Closed Doors
by Xymena Falling
Summary: SPR accept a case at a hotel, not knowing what it will get them into. With the stress, fear and tension building up, how will they cope with their most dangerous and terrifying case yet?
1. Chapter 1

Closed Doors

Part 1

_There was another bang and a bullet embedded itself in a wall, followed by the patter of running feet. An ominous silence fell, and he started walking forwards, humming slightly. Fear encircled the hotel. Mai ran up and up stairs, desperate to get as far away as was humanly possible. She banged on doors, but no one was in, or no one opened them. _

_Great. She stopped in the middle of the corridor. Silence fell. Back on the ground floor the man looked at the ceiling. He wondered briefly who was running. Slowly, he locked the front door. He had already locked the others, there was no way out. And he was probably about to break his promise. Not that that mattered anyway. _

_The first step creaked. That was good. He liked that. However the second one didn't. Slightly annoyed he jumped on the first step, pleased with the general disturbance that made. You could tell by the absolute silence. He smiled slightly. Well, this was a special occasion. Now he could get away with it. This time he wouldn't be caught. _

-Some days earlier-

A severely wet group of people were hauling stuff from a van and into the hotel. Inside their footprints merged in a confusion of wet and dry across the tiled floor. They continued up the stairs, up, up, to the third floor, though by that time they were barely visible. From there you could follow the murmur of voices, which stopped abruptly after a crash.

In the SPR tradition, Mai had of course dropped a camera, after tripping over the door frame.

"Mai, if it's damaged it will come out of your wages." Naru reminded her.

"I'm alright." She said, dusting herself down and picking up the camera.

"You tripped over the door frame."

"Thanks for asking." She smiled at him. He sighed. Of course, he wouldn't actually take it out of her wages, but it was still a good threat. Especially as she hadn't actually broken anything. Yet. She had put the camera down and left, leaving him standing like a lemon holding a monitor. Quickly he put it down and went back outside.

Eventually all the equipment had been taken in, as well as their luggage, and now all that remained to do was to position the cameras around the building. Naru had already sent Masako and Ayako with the thermometer and a sheet of paper to record the temperatures in the room, mostly to get rid of Masako and to stop Ayako and Bou-san from arguing all the time. Which left him in relative peace and quiet. Relative being the operative word.

Of course, Mai was still there, and so was Bou-san and Yasuhara.

"Hmm, we'll need cameras in the foyer, dining room, fifth floor corridor on the east and the south stairwell. If you go in pairs we'll be done quicker." Now for real peace and quiet.

Mai and John went to the foyer and dining room while Yasuhara and Bou-san took the corridor and stairs. Naru probably regretted letting them work in pairs for the rest of the day. Bou-san and Yasuhara had much to discuss, namely Naru's surprising return to Japan. Because, let's face it, "there is more spiritual activity in Japan" was a fairly awful excuse. The problem was, Naru probably believed it. Though, of course, Yasuhara and Bou-san saw through this rouse immediately.

Luckily for Naru, John and Mai had already returned, so the dynamic duo were unable to corner him. By then it was lunchtime, and SPR weren't likely to do much with their stomachs rumbling, so there was a break.

"Sooo…" Yasuhara started, after everyone else had left.

"Naru-chan…" Bou-san said slowly.

"What?"

"Weelll, we were wondering why you came back to Japan." He continued.

"There's far more spiritual activity here, compared to England."

"Ah-hah! But, Japan is not the most spiritually active country is it?" Yasuhara said triumphantly.

"No."

"So why did you come back?"

"What do you two want?"

"Nothing nothing." Bou-san said hurriedly.

"Just wondering, that's all."

"Mmhmm."

"Er, yeah." With that they left, leaving a slightly baffled Naru with only his thoughts and a bemused but silent Lin for company.

The rest of the day passed slowly and without any activity from the ghost. Naru, Mai and Lin were interviewing, so there was nothing for the rest of them to do. Sensing their boredom the owner of the hotel's wife brought up an ancient game of Go, long lost at the back of a cupboard.

"We wanted our son to learn, but he never liked it. I'm sorry there's not much to do around here. Obviously when it's sunny the countryside is stunning but…" She looked out of the window at the rain driving down.

"Thank you." They said. Placing the battered box between them, they didn't touch it.

Meanwhile the hotel owner, Itsukate Dai, was being interviewed. He had bought the hotel recently, and very cheaply because of its reputation as being haunted. The estate agent had quickly handed over the keys before driving off immediately, clearly relieved to be shot of the place.

"But, if it was haunted then why did you buy it?" Mai interrupted, confused.

"I don't believe in ghosts. However my wife does, and she says she feels like she's being watched all the time. Of course when we arrived we were told the hotel's rather violent history by the locals. Either way, it doesn't hurt to have the building exorcised, just in case."

"What exactly is this history?"

"Well, we bought the place when the original owner died and the land went up for sale. Apparently first his son died mysteriously. They say he was found with the door locked from the inside, but he hadn't committed suicide, and there was no other way out. They never found the murderer, and everyone said it as the ghost. After that his twin daughters went missing. Their bodies were recently found in the grounds, when they had decided to clear the old, overgrown flower beds and re plant them. His wife left from fear, but he stayed. They say he went mad, never was seen outside. Anyway, he died of cancer, and the land was put up for sale. Nobody wanted it, and it was so cheap."

"Anything else?"

"Oh, the rumours go back for years. About 50 years ago this group of kids were daring each other to go in. The place was pretty much abandoned then, a really weird family lived there. But that's a different story. So this kid plucks up the courage and goes inside. Alone, none of his friends had the guts. He came out screaming, never would say what happened, but it changed him. He's now terrified of everything. They say his hair turned white soon after."

"What about this family?"

"Weeell, they were a strange bunch. Foreign apparently. I think they were Korean. Ever since they moved in weird noises could be heard at night coming from the house. They seemed to be absolutely terrified, but never left strangely. They had a teenage girl, and she became friendly with one of the local boys. He died mysteriously too, and no one went near them after that. Of course, the death was never attributed to anyone, but that doesn't stop the rumours. Some reckoned that she fell in love with him but he rejected her, so she killed him. The family, naturally, defended their girl. A year later or so, the daughter committed suicide. Or ran away. I'm not sure. Either way, she went missing. The mother and father died of natural causes. Illness, I think."

"Have any of your guests currently staying experienced anything supernatural?"

"Er, about half, I think. But most of them are just things like noises. Things that go bump in the night. Spooks them out, but nothing serious. A few have seen figures, silhouettes, that sort of thing."

"When they say they have seen figures, is it the same figure every time?"

"Yeah, now that you mention it, I think it is. A bloke. He's been seen around the hotel. Someone even saw him outside once. Among the trees. Didn't think much of it at the time, could have been anything really. Sometimes he's just standing there, watching you, and sometimes he goes away when you see him. I haven't seen him, personally."

"That will be all… thank you."

Dai nodded. "If anything happens again, I'll tell you as soon as possible."

When he had left, Mai spoke. "Do you think… do you think that it was a ghost that killed all those people?"

"It probably was. We'll need to find out what was here before this hotel was built here."

"Do you think it's just one ghost?"

"Probably. We'll have to ask Hara-san."

"But why would he-?"

"I don't know Mai. Tea."

She grumbled something under her breath, but left without otherwise complaining. She went into the kitchen, the back of her neck prickling ominously. The tap was running but otherwise there was no noise. Frowning slightly she turned off the tap and jumped, startled by the sound of feet moving behind her. Her eyes widened, and slowly she turned around.

"Are you alright, dear?" Dai's wife was giving her a concerned look.

Mai visibly sagged in relief.

"Oh, yes, I just hadn't seen you. You made me jump, that's all. Um, where do you keep the tea?"

She quickly made the tea and left. The kitchen still made her feel slightly nervous with its sad air. She felt a lot better when she got to base where the others were getting quite excited over a game of Go.

"Hey Mai! Come and help us!" Ayako and Masako beckoned her over; it was a girls versus guys match.

"Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Bou-san, that's not very considerate. She could've actually seen a ghost." Yasuhara said in mock seriousness.

"It's all these stories about this hotel, they make me jump at small things." She smiled apologetically.

By the time they had finished the third game of Go, which the boys won easily, it was getting late, so they packed it up, had dinner and went to sleep. Mai climbed into bed early, hoping to get to sleep quickly, but she couldn't stop thinking about all the stories from the hotel. Who knew how many there were before this hotel was built? She turned it over and over in her mind, before falling into a restless sleep.

* * *

_Mai woke up in the now familiar circle of bright light. She got up quickly, and turned to find Gene standing next to her. No wonder she had thought that he was Naru, he was exactly the same. Even stray wisps of hair fell in his face in the same way. _

"_Gene. I haven't seen you for ages."_

"_It's so nice for you to call me by my actual name. Who would want to be mistaken for my idiot of a scientist twin." He grinned. _

"_I'm sorry. But you are the same. What are you going to show me this time?"_

"_Mai, how many times do I have to say, I'm just your spirit guide. I do not show you dreams."_

"_Ok, ok. What am I going to be seeing today?"_

"_Nothing. I just wanted to warn you. This ghost… they're not normal."_

"_Normal?"_

"_He doesn't follow any rules, and Noll can't predict what he'll do. He doesn't care. About anything."_

"_So? Lots of ghosts in other cases were dangerous."_

"_Just tell Noll to leave this place before someone gets hurt."_

"_Right."_

"_And if he needs convincing tell him that he'd better leave before the thing he's scared of actually happens."_

"_What's Naru scared of?"_

"_Never you mind. He'd hate for anyone to know."_

"_True enough."_

"_I think it's time for you to wake up. Take care of yourself."_

She woke up. It felt so dark in the room after the light of the circle. What time was it anyway? No birds were singing, and no light was creeping round the edges of the curtains. She turned the lamp on and felt across the bedside table for her watch.

"Mai, turn it off…" Ayako said, sounding grumpy.

"Oh, sorry. Did I wake you up?"

"No, I was already awake. The thing that woke me up was the pipes rattling nonstop. You'd have thought they could have some descent plumbing in this place."

"But the heating wouldn't be on. It's four in the morning."

"Thanks Mai. The light hurts my eyes." Ayako said as the lamp turned off.

"Ayako, I didn't turn it off."

* * *

**This is, of course, completely unrelated to Aftermath. A little idea started growing in my mind so we started writing it down and wah-hey! This is what happened. A whole new story.**

**Enjoy :) And don't forget to review! ^^**


	2. Chapter 2

Closed Doors, Part 2

"Ayako, I didn't turn it off."

"?"

"This is starting to scare me." Mai said, as there was a series of thumps from somewhere in the building.

"What's going on?" Masako's sleepy voice came from the other side of the room. "Why is everyone awake?" She reached for the lamp, as the sound of footsteps could be heard coming down the corridor.

"Why isn't the lamp turning on?"

"Power cut?" Ayako asked. The footsteps came closer, and closer, though by now they sounded like someone trying to be quiet by sliding on the carpet. Mai felt the hairs on her arms rise. She held her breath as the footsteps stopped outside their door.

The door handle twisted slowly, but it squeaked.

"I… I locked it earlier…" Ayako said, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

The door slowly started to open, creaking as it did so. They sat in their beds, immobilized by fear as the door continued opening. When it was about half way open it stopped. Ayako quietly slipped out of bed and tiptoed to the door. She peered into the corridor.

"No-one's there…"

"What? But we heard someone walking! Someone opened our door!"

"I'm going to go check it out. Coming?"

"I can't let you go alone!"

"Masako?"

"I'll stay here."

"Okay." Ayako rummaged in a bedside drawer until she pulled out two torches. She tossed one to Mai. "Close the door after us, okay?"

"Sure."

Ayako and Mai crept silently through the corridors of the hotel. It was almost pitch black. After a while Mai whispered in Ayako's ear, "We're being followed."

"I know."

They could both hear the barely audible footsteps, sounding like someone trying to keep as quiet as possible, stalking their prey.

Mai stopped, holding Ayako's arm to make sure she stopped as well. The footsteps stopped, and when they started walking again, they continued.

"We'll turn around really fast, okay?"

"Got it."

They carried on walking, trying to pretend that they weren't listening to the eerie footfalls behind them. Mai gave Ayako's arm a small tug, and they both turned around.

No-one was there. The corridor was empty.

Then, a scream broke the silence. They both looked at each other.

"Masako!"

* * *

After Mai and Ayako had left, Masako had silently closed the door and climbed back into her bed. Sleep seemed impossible, both from her fear and a sudden urge to go to the bathroom. She got out of bed and walked to the bathroom, her hand reaching for the switch. She flicked it once, twice. The lights didn't come on.

Oh yeah, there was a power cut. When that happened lights, funnily enough, didn't come on. She groped her way to the bedside table and brought out a torch. She flicked it on, using the beam to guide her way to the bathroom again. She went inside and-

Screamed.

Blood was dripping down the tiled walls of the bathroom, making them glisten sickeningly in the narrow beam of light from the torch, which slid out of her hand and clattered noisily on the floor.

"Masako? Open the door!" Ayako shouted through the door. She tried the door handle, but it didn't open. Masako stumbled backwards, out of the bathroom, landing clumsily on the floor. Then she remembered the door and opened it, pale faced.

"Masako, are you okay? What happened?"

"The bathroom…" she muttered, checking to see if any blood had dripped on her. Thankfully, none had. The guys arrived.

"What is it?"

"The- the bathroom… it was…"

Naru slipped into the bathroom and flicked the switch, the lights coming on.

"There's nothing there."

"How-how did you get the lights to work?"

"The normal way, by turning them on. What happened – and why are you two carrying torches?"

Mai and Ayako related the tale until they had heard Masako scream.

"Masako?"

"I went into the bathroom and the walls… they were dripping with blood…"

He sighed. "Well, no-one was harmed, so we'll discuss what happened in the morning."

* * *

It was later in the morning, and they were all in base.

"Um, Naru, I had a dream."

He glanced up from his notes. "What happened?"

"Well… it was… Gene. He said that this ghost wasn't normal, and that you couldn't predict what they would do."

"Last night proved that."

"And that you- we should leave. Or someone might get hurt." Here Naru raised an eyebrow, clearly saying that he wasn't going to leave. "He said that if you needed convincing he said that you should leave before the thing you were scared of happened."

"I see." Naru said smoothly.

"Er, what _are_ you scared of?"

"Heights."

"But that's not what-"

"Mai."

"Yes?"

"Tea." Mai ground her teeth together, but left without saying anything. "Yasuhara, go with her."

Yasuhara and Mai walked amiably through corridors, chatting.

"So, what do you think Naru's scared of?"

"I don't know."

"It could be anything, really. As long as a ghost could make it happen."

"Yeah."

They were about half way between the kitchens and base. Mai accidently tripped over her feet and fell over. Yasuhara chuckled, and offered her his hand.

"Want some help?"

"Thanks Yasu." She looked up as she reached for his hand, but then drew back.

It wasn't Yasuhara standing there. A middle-aged man, with leering eyes, and a rotten, toothy grin stood there instead, towering over her, the fear running through her veins.

"Keep away! Stay away from me!" She shrieked, closing her eyes. She opened them again, and he was still there, leering down at her. Steadying herself with deep breaths, she raised her hands.

Yasuhara quickly checked his hand to see that his hand was still his hand, and yes, it was.

"Mai! What's wrong?" He looked around, but they were in an empty corridor. She had started chanting under her breath. "Mai!"

When she heard his voice she calmed down and opened her eyes.

"Yasu?"

"Mai! What was it?"

She jumped up and hugged him. "Where did you go? There was creepy man here, and he was glaring at me and grinning and it was horrible!"

"What? I didn't go anywhere."

She let go. "What? But there was no sign of you."

"It must have been the ghost. Let's get back to base, and tell Naru."

They made it back without anything remotely spooky happening.

Naru raised an eyebrow. "Did something happen?"

"I fell over, and then Yasu offered me his hand, but then it wasn't Yasu, there was this horrible spooky man there and it looked like it was going to hurt me so I started to shriek and then it was Yasu again." Mai gushed.

"Mai, slow down. Having a heart attack is not going to help."

"I am not going to have a heart attack. Sheesh."

"What did the man look like?"

"Well… I think he was middle aged, but he might have been older, and, um, he had really evil eyes, and his teeth were all yellow and there were some gaps in-between his teeth."

"I see."

Naru didn't say anything for a while. Then:

"Mai. Are you _sure_ you saw him?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm just asking."

"Are you trying to say that I'm seeing things?" Mai asked incredulously. "Yes I saw him. I was here…" She pointed to a patch of floor. "And he was just there! Right in front of me!"

"I was just asking." Naru said simply.

"I did see him!"

"Mai, calm down. I believe you."

"Oh…" Mai blushed in embarrassment. "Er, I'll just… go make you some tea."

She retreated to the kitchen. She opened the door to find Itsukate Mamiko standing before the window. Mai watched her for some time, but she didn't move.

"Er, Itsukate-san?"

She jumped, and spun around, spilling her cup of water. "Oh, Mai-san, I didn't hear you come in. I've, hah, spilt water on myself." She said sadly.

"Let me help," Mai said, grabbing a kitchen towel.

"No, no, I'm fine." She left without touching the towel. Mai stared after her. There was definitely something strange going on here. However, before she could tell Naru about Mamiko, he started speaking to her.

"Mai, Yasuhara is going to the library. I'd like you to go with him."

* * *

The library was a large, modern, ugly building which squatted on the back streets like a giant, towering over the other buildings. Yasuhara grimaced when he saw it, muttering about modern architecture in a Western style. They passed through the revolving doors.

Inside there was a complete silence. The scanned the rows of cheap bookcases, crammed together. It looked like someone had been overambitious on a limited budget. At one side of the room stood a plain, grey desk, behind which sat an extremely bored looking girl. She looked up as they approached.

"Do you want something?" She said monotonously, as though she'd practised saying this several times, returning her attention to the doodles on the desk.

"We're looking for information about the hotel, you know, the one that's haunted." Immediately the girl behind the desk sat up straighter.

"Who are you? I haven't seen you before."

"Er, we've just arrived. Yasuhara Osamu, and this is-" He said, bowing slightly.

"Taniyama Mai." Mai bowed also.

"I'm Date Imari. So, why are you interested in the hotel? They say it's been haunted since forever."

"Imari-san! What have I said about bringing your friends for a chat?" An older man, probably in his late fifties hobbled quickly to the desk. He had a stick and limped on his left leg.

"They aren't my friends! They've come here for information on _the_ hotel."

"Oh. So sorry. Imari-san has some, er, unusual work habits. Stop doodling on that desk! Now, how can we help you?" He said glaring at Mai and Yasuhara as though they had invaded his territory.

"The hotel?" Yasuhara asked.

"Imari-san! Help them, will you? I have to do something about this!" He said, pointing at the offending doodles.

"Sorry about him, he's not always this grumpy. Now, where is it?" Imari lead them down a thin path between the book cases. Eventually they came to the place. "This is it. Anything on the hotel is here. Why are you interested in the hotel?"

"We're, ah, curious about ghosts. And the hotel has a lengthy history, apparently." Yasuhara said while brushing through a few articles.

"It does. Once my grandmother told me that the hotel stands on blood-soaked ground."

"Why would she say that?"

Imari shrugged. "I dunno. It was haunted in my grandmother's time. And probably _her_ grandmother's time. I wouldn't be surprised. There are a lot of rumours about the place. I'll leave you to do your research or whatever." She left them. Yasuhara split the pile of papers between them.

"Find anything?"

"Nah, not yet. Most of it is stuff we already know."

"Oh."

"Pity no-one's written a book on the hotel. That would help a lot."

They continued searching through faded newspaper articles.

"Mai, look at this." Yasuhara held out a picture.

"Isn't that-?" Mai stared at the photo. Yasuhara nodded. "Oh my God."

* * *

**Thank you readers for all your nice reviews. They make us happy ^^**

**It's nice to take a break and start somehting new, but dw, we are gonna try to write the remainder of impressions at the same time, then when that's finished we will dedicate ourselves to this one. Or maybe you're not worried anyway.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

Clsoed Doors, Part 3

"Look here. It says that a young man was found dead at the hotel. Apparently it was the ghost. He was about our age, I think. Maybe younger." Yasuhara pointed to a slightly faded newspaper article.

"What was his name? It can't be him."

"It says…" He quickly read the article through again.

"What? Who was it?"

"It says… 'Itsukate Hiyuu, son of Itsukate Dai and Itsukate Mamiko.'"

"He looks like his father."

"We'll need to show this to Naru." He placed the article on a separate pile. "Why do you think they didn't tell us?"

"What?"

"Why didn't they tell us that their son was killed by the ghost?"

"I don't know… it's probably just a touchy subject."

"But still… he didn't say it in the interview?"

She shook her head. "He just talked about rumours. Stuff that happened ages ago. In a sense, I'm glad it was his son."

"Eh?"

"If it wasn't, then that would mean that Itsukate-san is a ghost, or a zombiieee…"

"True I suppose. I had the same thought when I first saw it too."

* * *

Naru drummed his fingers impatiently. "Well?"

Masako nodded. "Yes… there's a spirit."

"Only one?"

She paused for a moment, then nodded again. "There's only one spirit which is

strong enough… there are a few passing spirits, but nothing more."

"The spirit?"

"Er, male I think. Probably about… 30."

"Anything else?"

"No. He seems calm but annoyed." Naru nodded.

Just then, Mai and Yasuhara entered.

"Naru, you'll never guess what we found!" Naru didn't guess, he merely held his hand out for the papers. Yasuhara shifted through them so the article about Hiyuu was at the top. "Here."

Naru read through the article. He didn't look surprised, but then, he was Naru.

"What is it?" Ayako asked, craning to read the article over Naru's shoulder, but, alas, failing miserably.

"Itsukate-san had a son! And the son was killed in mysterious circumstances. Meaning he was probably killed by the ghost. And he didn't tell us."

Naru tossed aside the article as though it was like any other newspaper article and started reading the next one. Ayako picked it up and started reading it too.

"How was he killed?"

"Hanged. Found in a room with his hands tied together and the door locked from the outside. No-one said that they'd locked him in. The key with which the door was locked was inside the room, in his pocket, so the police said it was suicide."

"Oh."

By this time, Naru had finished reading (or, in some cases, skim reading) all the articles. "You can take them back now."

"What, back to the library?"

"Yes. They have nothing that interests me."

"But we just got back from the library!"

"So? I'm sure you are perfectly capable of going to the library again."

Sighing, Yasuhara grabbed Mai's wrist in one hand and the papers in the other. "Come on, Mai-chan…" He dragged her away before she attacked Naru.

"Have a good trip!" Ayako waved.

"I'm sure we won't."

Mai seethed all the way to the library.

"Does he always do that with the information you give him?"

"Not always. It depends. I think he's in a bad mood."

"What? How on earth can you tell?"

"Mai, stop shouting. People are giving us funny looks." Yasuhara wiped his glasses.

"But-"

"Mai."

"Okay okay. I'm not shouting. How can you tell?"

"Why? Is little Mai-chan jealous that I can tell what mood he's in and you can't?"

"No."

"She says, blushing madly." Yasuhara laughed. "He always wants me to take the information back more quickly when he's angry."

"So he's like, mega mad?"

"No, no. That's just annoyed."

"Blimey." Yasuhara chuckled at the outraged look on Mai's face.

* * *

Naru was indeed annoyed. For a start the ghost had reacted to their presence far too quickly, and there was too much information. Some ghosts tried to protect themselves by getting other ghosts to do the work for them, but this one seemed to be using data instead. And Gene was still not talking to him. He wasn't quite one hundred percent sure what he did wrong either. Not to mention speaking through Mai meant he had to be cryptic and arouse her suspicion. Great.

Speaking of Mai… no, let's not go down that route. He had to focus on the work. As soon as she came back she would probably be on his case for rejecting the information. The things she got offended at…

It was odd that the ghosts' victims had moved on. After such a traumatic death you would expect them to be unable to move on. Unless…

It seemed Itsukate-san had more to answer for then simply withholding information about his son.

Naru got up. Lin immediately looked at him. Almost imperceptibly Naru nodded, and Lin returned to his laptop. He momentarily regretted sending Mai back to the library, but at least it kept her out of the way of the ghost. He strode down the corridors, steps and up to reception.

"Do you know where Itsukate Dai is?" He asked the receptionist.

"No, sorry. Would you like me to tell him that you're looking for him next time I see him?" She said, whipping out a post it note and pencil from nowhere.

"Yes. Please."

"And your name is?" She said, scribbling something.

"Nar- I mean Shibuya. Thanks." He walked away, then came back.

"How long have you worked here …?"

"Godo Kanon. Two months."

"And have you noticed anything unusual? Even if it's small."

"Well, sometimes when I come in all the stuff on the desk has been moved around. Er, sometimes there are little notes left, but I think it's just teenagers playing pranks. Everyone knows this place is 'haunted'."

"Anything else?"

"Sometimes the lights short circuit or bulbs blow. Personally I think the electrics are faulty. I have suggested this place is checked for mice, but no one listens. Are you alright?" She asked a little nervously.

"Yes. Are you sure? Think carefully."

"Naru?" Mai appeared next to him.

"What?"

"See, I told you." Yasuhara appeared next to Mai.

"I only said your name. No need to be so sharp." Mai said reproachfully.

Naru ignored her and turned back to the receptionist.

"Yes I'm sure. Why? What's all this about?"

"Nothing. Just wondering." He walked away, the other two apologising for him to the baffled receptionist, then running to catch up. "Mai, come with me."

"Where are we going?"

"To find Itsukate-san."

"What about me?" Yasuhara called to their retreating backs. No answer. Oh well. He wandered back to the base.

"Oh? Where's Mai?" Ayako asked as he entered.

"With Naru." He shrugged nonchalantly, "They abandoned me," he said tragically.

Several corridors away, Mai sneezed.

"Why are we looking for Itsukate-san?"

"Because he needs to answer some questions."

"Oh. Why?"

She was jogging slightly to keep up with him.

"Mai, if you're not going to say something intelligent don't speak at all."

"Jerk! I can say anything I want!"

"Mai, shut up."

"Make me."

Silently Naru reached back and put his hand over her mouth.

"Mffmmfm!"

Sensing her discomfort, he lowered his hand slightly so she could breathe more easily through her nose.

"Well, you said make me." He reasoned. Angrily she crossed her arms, considering licking his hand. Rejecting the idea, she stopped walking, trying to outdistance his arm. He stopped walking to look back at her, then, sighing, he removed his hand. They continued walking, only to find Itsukate Dai walking towards them.

"Ah, Itsukate-san, can I have a word please?"

Dai seemed mildly surprised. "Yes. Why? Is something wrong?"

"We'll go somewhere more private. Do you have a room we could talk in?"

"Er, yeah, sure." He led them to an empty room.

"Your son." Naru stated bluntly. Naru didn't beat about the bush.

Dai looked uncomfortable. "Yes…"

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Well… um… my wife… she doesn't talk about him much… I thought it would be better if I didn't tell you… I mean her feelings…"

"It would be a great help to our investigation if you didn't withhold information. Did you tell the other exorcists about your son's death?"

"How did you find out about them?"

"How many have you had?"

"Just one group. We didn't tell you because we didn't want to scare you away."

"Did they have any notes we could access? Did they tell you their findings?"

"I don't think they left anything. Erm, they said that they were trying to get rid of all the harmless ghosts first."

"Anything else that you didn't tell us?"

"Not that I can think of. Is that it?" He looked surprised as Naru started leaving.

"Erm, why did the other exorcists leave?" Mai asked quietly.

"The leader went missing." Dai looked away.

"And did they find him?"

"Her. We never did. It broke the group, and they left."

"Thank you." She bowed, and left too. Naru was waiting for her in the corridor.

"Naru, how did you know about the other exorcists?"

"Do you know how many people have died in this hotel?"

She thought for a few seconds, counting them on her fingers. "Um… about 3? Maybe 4?"

"13, Mai."

She stopped and stared at him. "13!"

"At least. That's all the suspicious deaths that are almost certainly the ghost. We can't really be sure exactly how many people were killed by him, unless he actually tells us. Getting killed by a ghost in that way would be quite traumatic. Your chances of being able to move on would be almost zero. And yet, Hara-san said that there was only one spirit."

"Oh, I get it. So that means that someone else exorcised all the harmless spirits."

"Exactly."

There was a pause.

"Um, Naru, did you hear about the other group? About why they left?"

"Yes."

"Naru, you're the leader of our group."

"Yes. This is leading somewhere, I presume?"

"Naru… their leader was killed… and you're our leader… Don't you see?"

"…Yes." He said rather nonchalantly.

"You could be in danger!"

"I'll be fine Mai. I'm not like you; spirits don't feel the need to visit me every 5 minutes."

"But, Naru!"

"Mai, you're making it sound like I'm going to sit and wait to be killed, which is far from the truth. Have I died yet?"

"No, but that's not the point, you have to be careful!"

"Mai, shut up, I'm getting a headache."

She looked at him unhappily, but shut up, making a mental note to tell Lin to watch out for Naru. They got back to base, where Mai was immediately set upon by Ayako, Monk and Yasuhara. Masako didn't join in, but she didn't exactly approve either. At least she didn't like him anymore, so that was one problem removed. And she couldn't blackmail him into taking her on dates.

Strangely he felt tired. An early night for once would be nice… how many of those had he had? If they went down for dinner now there wouldn't really be any time left afterwards for work. Not to mention nothing out of the ordinary had happened all day.

* * *

"Gene?" Naru stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom. "Come on, I came back to Japan, didn't I?"

Gene didn't appear in the mirror. Naru took a step backwards and tripped on the edge of the rug.

"Dammit." At least he hadn't hurt himself. He stood up and splashed his face, glanced up in the mirror again.

_Interesting how you said you came back._

"Gene?"

_Instead of went back. _

"…And?"

_Nothing. It's just… interesting_

"You're speaking to me again?"

_Yeah, I guess. After all, you were missing me. _

"Was not. Am I forgiven?"

_I won't forgive you that easily. Speaking through Mai is difficult. You haven't gone. And after I risked Mai knowing about you just to warn you._

"You know I won't leave."

_I know. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about._

"Not you too. I've been sent knowing looks by Bou-san and Yasuhara all day."

_Actually that wasn't quite what I wanted to talk to you about-_

The rest of what Gene said was drowned out by a sudden scream.

_That was what I wanted to talk about. _Gene finished sadly.

* * *

**So, dun-dun-dun! Again. **

**Thanks for all the reviews, favs, story alerts etc. ^^ We're the type of people who get rather excited when we get 1 review. If we get more, we're like "Yay!" :) :D**

**Wallow in our lameness. ^^ **

**Anyway, please review.**


	4. Chapter 4

Closed Doors, Part 4

Naru stared at Gene for a split second, then ran out.

"Crap!"

He got to the stairs at the same time as Bou-san.

"Mai!"

She was lying at the bottom of the stairs, moaning.

"Owwww…"

"Are you okay?"

Naru helped her up as Lin, John and Yasuhara appeared at the top of the stairs. He noticed a thin red line dripping down her arm. "You're bleeding."

"Oh… yeah, I am… it must have been my glass…" Naru carefully prised a small piece of glass from her arm.

"What happened?" Bou-san asked.

"I went to get a glass of water, and I was walking back, and then I was pushed…"

However, Naru (who _was_ the one holding Mai's arm) at that moment cared more about the cut itself than how she got it.

"Where's the nearest bathroom?"

"Probably the one in our room." Naru spoke as he half dragged Mai up the stairs, past Ayako and Masako.

"Ow, Naru! No need to try and cut off the blood in my arm!"

"Oh." He eased his grip on her arm. Okay, maybe he'd been holding her just a_ little _too tight.

"Um, Naru, are we going to your room?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Sometimes Mai reminded Naru of a 5 year old.

"Because it's closest."

"Oh."

He pulled her into the en-suite bathroom, turning the tap on in one swift motion, and dragging her arm under it. It was only then that he let go of her arm. He leaned against the counter and watched her rub away the blood that had started to dry.

"What happened?" He hadn't really been listening when she'd told Bou-san.

"I went to get a glass of water before I got ready for bed, and then I was passing the stairs, and something or someone pushed me. I must have landed on my glass when I fell."

"Mai… are you sure that you were pushed? You could have tripped and your brain then automatically blamed it on the ghost as you're in a haunted building."

"No, I was pushed."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure. Are you saying I'm a liar?"

"No, I'm merely suggesting that you tripped."

"I was pushed, okay? I was walking, and I felt the hands on my back, on my shoulders, and then I felt them push me, and then I was falling. Got it?"

"I believe you. Just making sure."

Mai looked away, her nose in the air. But she was unable to be mad at him for long.

"Well, worse has happened." She muttered, surveying her arm. "Why are you angry?"

"I'm not angry." Naru muttered.

"I found plasters!" Monk entered the room brandishing an ancient first aid box. He rummaged around for a bit before producing a set of blue plasters.

"Is that the only colour there is?" Mai complained, eyeing them mistrustfully.

"'Fraid so."

"Fine."

Naru took a plaster from Bou-san and was focusing on tacking off the back.

"Hang on; I can put it on myself!"

"Mai, the cut is on your right arm."

"Yes."

"And you're right handed."

"So? I can still put it on."

"If you insist." He dropped the plaster onto her hand, his gaze shifting to the mirror where a few minutes earlier he'd been talking to Gene, wondering briefly what Gene would have said if Mai hadn't screamed. Mai finished successfully putting the plaster on her arm.

"See? I can do it." She said with a mixture of smug and pride, holding out her arm.

"Whatever."

Suddenly she yawned. "I'm tired."

"We tidied up the glass, so you can straight to bed if you want." Bou-san offered.

"But… I need to get a new glass of water."

Sighing, Naru picked up a glass that had been in the corner and filled it under the tap. "They have glasses in the bathrooms. You don't need to kill yourself to get a glass of water."

Blushing slightly, she took the glass from him. "Oh. Oops."

* * *

_Mai was standing in a courtroom. _

"_Gene?"_

"_Yes?"_

"_Oh, you're here."_

"_Hmm. Mai, be cautious. Bad luck stalks you and you get scared easily."_

_People were talking about something. She turned and started to listen. _

_The man who was being accused…_

_She recognised the face. He was the one who she'd seen, leering down at her…_

"_Um, Gene, what is he being accused of?" There was no reply. "Gene?" She looked around, but he wasn't there. As she scanned the court she noticed the man staring at her. There was no one near her, not even Gene anymore. He cocked his head, as though he was concentrating hard._

"_Well, what is your side of the story?" Another man roared at him. He looked away at last._

* * *

Naru frowned at the file.

So, the hotel stood on execution grounds.

Great. Because, after all, all they needed was that their job became just that bit more difficult. They were dealing with the ghost of a psychopath. _Which_ psychopath was a complete mystery. They didn't know anything about him, except possibly what he looked like. He needed Yasuhara to pay another trip to the library.

Mai stumbled into base, still rubbing her eyes. Why had she come into base instead of falling asleep again? Oh yeah, to tell Naru about her dream. Stupid dream. But Naru got annoyed whenever she didn't tell him almost immediately after she woke up. Jerk. She plonked herself into a chair.

"Naru…"

"I'm going to need you to go back to the library with Yasuhara."

"I will if you ask." Mai folded her arms, determined to cure him of his lack of manners on this case. Naru said nothing.

"Um, I had a dream…" Mai told him all about it. "… and he was looking straight at me."She finished, looking worried. Naru was deep in thought.

"He couldn't have seen me, could he?" Naru didn't hear her.

"Could he?" She spoke louder.

"What?"

"Could he have seen me?"

"I don't think so."

"Right. I'm gonna go back to sleep." She said, stifling a yawn. She stood up and moved to the door.

"Mai, wait." She obediently stopped. "Would you go to the library with Yasuhara for me?"

Mai grinned broadly. "Yep!" She passed a surprised looking Lin in the corridor, and called good morning to him. He nodded back.

"What did you do to Mai-san, Noll?"

"Nothing."

Two hours of not sleeping very much later, one tired Mai dragged herself out of bed again, only this time because Ayako and Masako were already up and she didn't want to be told off for slacking. She quickly dressed and went down, only to find Yasuhara waiting for her in the hallway.

"Mai-chan! You're awake. Naru wants us to go to the library again. Something about execution records."

Mai suddenly had an image of that man watching her in her dream. She shuddered.

"You alright?"

"Yep. Let's go."

It was lucky the library was only about a ten minute walk away. About half way there the heavy, grey clouds erupted, spilling water over the area. Mai and Yasuhara were thoroughly soaked by the time they slipped their way through the revolving doors. The older man was sitting behind the desk, working at it with some polish.

"It ain't much of a desk, but it's all I've got." He said, as he saw their enquiring looks. "You two are the ones researching that hotel, aren't you?"

Mai nodded.

"You know where to go. Imari-san's probably already there; she's as obsessed with that place as you are. I swear she knows everything about it." He gave them a despairing look, then turned his attention back to the polish.

They walked through the narrow rows of books, reaching the bookshelf they wanted.

"Hey? All the stuff's gone!" Mai complained, but Yasuhara had walked ahead.

"Come on Mai." He called. They walked to the desks, where Imari was bent over the file. She looked up.

"Some newspapers turned up from somewhere, so I'm adding them." She explained.

"The man at the desk said you are the expert on the hotel." Yasuhara said, surveying the piles of fading newspaper placed systematically on the desk. Imari laughed.

"I wouldn't say I'm an expert. I just like ghosts and stuff."

"Really? Would you like to go to the hotel then?"

"I can't. I'm such a chicken."

"We'll come with you, won't we Mai?" Mai nodded encouragingly.

"Naru will love talking to you."

"Well, Naru won't _love_ talking to her; he doesn't like talking to anyone."

"True."

Imari followed the exchange with interest. "Who's Naru?" She asked.

"You'll see." Mai chimed.

* * *

"Nothing will happen, right?" Imari looked up at the hotel nervously.

"Not unless Naru upsets you. But otherwise, no."

"Naru's our boss…" Yasuhara explained what SPR was.

"You seem to be very close to your boss." Imari said, looking surprised when Yasuhara and Mai glanced at each other and laughed.

"I wouldn't say that anyone's really close to him." Yasuhara chuckled. They led her through the hotel to the base.

"Naru? We've brought someone to see you." Mai poked her head in, earning a black look from Naru. His face assumed its usual blank look he used when dealing with people as Imari and Yasuhara came in.

"I presume you brought something back?" He said, looking at their empty hands.

"Naru, Imari-san. Imari-san, Naru." Mai said. "Imari-san knows everything about the hotel." Naru immediately perked up slightly.

"Shibuya Kazuya." He said. He caught Lin's eye, who immediately opened a blank document on his laptop, and prepared to type.

Outside the room Masako and Ayako pressed their ears to the door, while John looked on passively. Monk turned the corner to find them like that. He sidled up to John.

"What's going on?" He indicated Ayako and Masako.

"Mai and Yasuhara brought someone with them, and Naru's interviewing her."

Ayako and Masako both turned round and glared at them, just as Mai and Yasuhara emerged from the base.

"You guys are so not sly." Yasuhara smirked.

"Come on Yasu, we're supposed to be getting tea." Mai dragged him along.

"I'm coming, I'm coming…"

They came back a few minutes later, to find not much had changed. They slipped back into the room.

"Who is she anyway?" Ayako asked, perplexed.

"Who knows? Yasuhara found her…" Masako said.

"She could be anyone then…"

"But why would they bring her here?"

The door opened again. Mai poked her head out.

"Erm, the camera on the third floor corridor has stopped working…" She said.

Monk sighed. "I guess it's up to me again. I do all the work around here." He grumbled. "Well? Is someone coming with me?"

Ayako and Masako glanced at each other. "Tell me everything." Ayako said, then she stood up and they left.

* * *

Imari glanced at the teenager and man sitting opposite her. She wished this Shibuya hadn't sent Mai and Yasuhara to get tea. Silence reigned in the base.

"Do you know anything about the execution grounds that were here?" Shibuya asked. The door opened and Mai and Yasuhara came back. Beyond the door she could see a group of people peering in. She began telling them everything she knew.

After a while she had finished. The man finished typing. What was his name? Rim? Rin?

"That's it." She said, spotting Shibuya watching her closely. She had never met anyone so odd. He was good looking, but didn't say anything, except to Mai. He nodded. Mai gave him a sharp look, as though she was going to say something, but thought better of it.

She stood up to leave, and Yasuhara stood up with her.

"Thanks. Sorry our boss is a bit…" He tried to think of a word to describe Naru, and failed completely.

"Quiet?" Imari asked.

"Yeah." There was a pause.

"Well, I'd better get back to the library then."

"Yeah. Bye, then."

"Bye."

She set off along the corridor. Yasuhara watched till she went round the corner, then went back to base.

Strange, Imari thought. The corridor seemed to be stretching, so it was much longer then the building would allow. She turned around, and thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye.

"Ohh no…" she complained, rooted to the spot. Something wasn't right. She took a deep breath.

"Okay, everything is fine. Nothing is going to happen." She muttered to herself, and continued walking. But she could swear that there was something behind her. And if she turned quickly she could see someone out of the corner of her eye, but she couldn't see anything. The corridor was devoid of anyone else.

"Come on, just because this place is haunted doesn't mean anything's gonna happen to me." But contrary to anything she was telling herself, she was terrified. She could feel something breathing down her neck. She turned around, and screamed.

* * *

**Wahay! Someone else gets attacked. Hehehe.**

**Anyway, feel free to review. Even if it's a completely random review. **


	5. Chapter 5

Closed Doors, Part 5

Monk winced again. "Ow!" He glared at Ayako.

"You were the person who ran in front of the vase. Now sit still."

"Aw, Ayako don't be mean." Mai said. She didn't say anything, but concentrated on getting another shard of ceramic out of Monk's shoulder.

"Ow!"

"Just one more. Be a man."

"I am a man!"

"You're not taking it like one."

"I didn't realise you were such an expert on men."

"You'd be surprised."

"I definitely would!"

"Fine then, do it yourself!" Ayako screeched.

"I can't! I can't see my shoulder!"

"Well then stop squirming."

"I'm not _squirming_." Monk muttered.

"This is the last one." Ayako said more softly.

Monk bit his lip, but didn't say anything.

"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Monk didn't say anything.

"Erm, this might sting a little." She dabbed his shoulder. Monk gritted his teeth.

"A little." He said sarcastically.

"Alright, but I can't say it's going to hurt loads because then it's more likely to hurt more."

"What?"

"It's to do with pain being created by the brain."

"If you know all this stuff, why are you a priestess?" He winced as Ayako tightly wound bandages around his arm and shoulder.

"Try not so sleep on it." She said, before going to wash her hands.

"It's alright Bou-san, she likes you really." Mai said reassuringly.

"Look who's giving out love advice." He snorted.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you never believe us when we tell you Naru loves you."

"That's because he doesn't."

"He does."

Mai decided a change of focus was called for. "So you admit to it then?"

"What?"

"You like Ayako."

"I never said that."

"No, but you did say 'look who's giving out love advice', but I was talking about her liking you as a friend."

"Don't lie Mai, it doesn't become you."

"But-"

"Anyway, aren't you supposed to be cute and innocent?"

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Yasuhara held out a cup of tea.

"Fine, thanks." Imari smiled slightly. "Well, I guess I got to meet a ghost." She said sadly.

"It's just lucky that Ayako and Bou-san were going that way."

"Hmm," She nodded.

_She was suddenly on the floor, and she could feel something landing on her. Somethings. They were small and sharp. Somewhere, a woman was chanting, and a man joined in. _

_The heavy atmosphere vanished, and she felt normal again. _

"_Are you okay?" A red-headed woman peered down at her, then held out a hand. She helped her up._

"_Ask her first. And who's injured here?" The man complained. Imari stood up, and looked around. The vase was on the floor, shattered. A man was standing next to it with blood running down his arm. His top stuck to him where it had become wet. _

"_Oh my God… your arm!" She had said. _

"_Someone who appreciates me." The man grinned. "You're Yasuhara's friend aren't you?" _

"_Actually we only met yesterday."_

_The woman whipped out her phone and speed dialled a number._

"_Hey, Mai, we're just further up the corridor. I'm going to need bandages, scissors, wipes and sterilised tweezers…. Bou-san got hit with a vase… no he'll be alright… yeah, bye." She shut the phone and advanced on the man, who quailed slightly. _

"_Can you take your top off?" she asked. Imari swore he blushed slightly, but he did as he was told. _

"_You idiot." She muttered, surveying his arm and back._

"_Well, she would have been hit otherwise."_

"_Couldn't you think of another way of stopping it rather than running into the vase?"_

_The man just looked guilty. _

"_I'm Mitsuzake Ayako, and this fool is Takigawa Houshou, but we all call him Bou-san."_

"_You're a monk?" Imari asked, stunned. She hadn't ever met a monk with long hair in a ponytail._

"_Only part time." Monk grimaced as Ayako tapped his arm. _

"_How can you be a part time monk?"_

"_He's also a guitarist in a rock band." Ayako said._

"_I play bass." Bou-san said helpfully._

"Yes. How is Takigawa-san?"

"Taki-? Oh, Bou-san. Ayako's with him, so they've probably already had about five arguments already."

"But I thought they like each other?"

Yasuhara laughed. "They do, but they won't admit it. Their almost as bad as Mai and Naru."

She nodded. "Well, I'm fine, so I'd better be getting back." She got up, handing him the half drunk cup of tea.

"Are you sure? You were attacked."

"Yes. I'm sure, and anyway I have to get back to work. I don't want my pay to be cut."

He nodded. Meanwhile, Mai had wandered over. "If you want, I can go with you." She offered.

Imari nodded eagerly. She did not want to be walking down the corridors of the hotel alone again. When they were out in the corridor, Mai spoke.

"So, what did you think of Naru?"

"Shibuya-san? Why do you call him Naru?"

"It's short for narcissist. I came up with it."

"Oh. I wish my boss was as good looking as him. And it must be exciting being a ghost hunter. I mean, it's boring being a librarian, and when I tell people that I work as one they give me a bored look and never mention it again."

"Well, I can't say it's not boring, but it can be rather dangerous and nerve-wracking."

"And you work under Shibuya-san. Does he normally only talk to you?"

"Er, no. Normally he only orders me to do things. He's like 'Mai, do this, and that. And this.'"

"My boss is like that. But he's grumpy and old, so it's much worse. You're lucky."

"No, not really. He's a total jerk and calls me an idiot. Not to mention he's really sure of himself and arrogant."

"You make him sound awful."

"Yes, but he does care about all of us really. He just doesn't like to show it."

"So do you hate him or like him? One minute you're listing off his bad points and one minute you're complimenting him."

"He's so aggravating. And we bicker, like, all the time."

"…You didn't answer my question."

"Sometimes I hate him but sometimes, he's really nice and he'll do something sweet."

"Your boss is nicer than mine then. He has a permanent scowl and he never does anything nice."

"Oh. Poor you." She nodded sympathetically.

They reached the front door to the hotel.

"Well, bye then."

"Yeah, bye. Maybe Naru will send me and Yasu to the library again and we'll see you then."

"Maybe. Bye."

Mai watched Imari go through the doors, then turned around and headed back. "Naru'll kill me if I take too long…" She muttered under her breath.

She left the lobby and was soon walking through corridors.

It took her about fifteen minutes to realise that she was lost. The corridor she was in didn't look familiar and she wasn't sure how she got there in the first place. She knew the way to base, so where could she have walked the wrong way?

She tried turning around and walking the way she came, but it just made it worst. Finally, she pulled out her phone.

She had the numbers of everyone in SPR, except Madoka. Most of them were on speed dial in case she ever ended up in a situation similar to the one she was currently in.

She dialled a number and waited awkwardly, muttering "Pick up… pick up…"

"…Yes?" An irritated voice on the end said.

"Um, Naru, I'm lost."

Pause.

"You idiot."

"I didn't mean to!"

She could hear him sigh on the other end. He probably thought she was a lost cause and needed a tracker on her at all times so they could easily locate her if something happened.

"Where are you?"

"I don't know. I'm lost."

"I am fully aware of what 'lost' means, Mai. Are you near any of the rooms?"

She looked around. She was practically surrounded by doors.

"Yes."

"What's the number on the one closest to you?"

"Um…" She peered in the dim light to read the number. "407."

"Don't move around. I'll come and get you."

"Um, okay. Thanks."

He hung up.

"Jerk."

Back in base, Naru stood up. "Mai's managed to get herself lost. I'll go get her." He said as by way of explanation, before leaving. He wondered briefly how she managed to get on the 4th floor.

For Mai, it was a long wait. She was in a corridor, in a building that was haunted, and she wasn't allowed to move. She stood against the wall and sank down to the ground so she was sitting. After what seemed like ages, her phone rang. The caller ID said it was Naru, so she picked up.

"Mai, what's the room number again?"

"Er, 407." She stood up and looked at the door again. It did say 407.

"Mai, that's impossible."

"What? How?"

"Because _I'm _by room 407."

* * *

**DUN DUN DUNNNNN *melodramatic music*  
another cliff hanger :) I like them so much. **


	6. Chapter 6

Closed Doors, Part 6

It took a few moments for it to sink in.

"What?"

"I am currently standing by room 407. And there is no sign of you."

"No, no, it clearly says room 407."

"Have another look. Are you sure?"

She glared at the room. The door said 407. She looked again. The door still said 407. She knocked on the door, but no one answered.

"Yes, I am sure."

"Well, follow the corridor, so the numbers increase."

"Right." Mai followed the corridor.

"What room number now?"

"416"

"Okay. If you were facing the door to room 407, which way did you go?"

Mai thought for a moment. "Right."

"Ah."

"Why, what way did you go?"

"Left."

"Maybe I'm at the right place, and you're in the wrong place."

"Highly unlikely. Unlike you, I have a sense of direction."

"Thanks."

"And I went to the fourth floor."

"Er, why?"

"Because room 407 is the seventh room on the fourth floor, as any idiot knows."

"Jerk."

"Go back to room 407."

"Right."

She walked back up the corridor.

"Erm, Naru, I can't find it."

"What?"

"I can't find it."

"That's not possible."

"Well, clearly it is."

"I meant, it's not possible for someone to be that stupid. What way did you go?"

"Right."

"You'd have to go to your left."

"But the room numbers got bigger if I went to the left."

"Just go to the left. Trust me."

Naru found the nearest stair well and went up a floor.

"Naru, I'm at room 422. Can I stop now?"

"Go to room 425."

"Why?"

"Because it's 9 more than 416."

"Naru, I don't think I'm alone…" Mai whispered down the phone, her eyes searching the seemingly empty corridor. The hairs at the back of her neck prickled.

"Well done Mai. Okay, keep on going left until you reach a stairwell."

Mai set off down the corridor. It seemed to go on forever.

"Naru, I've been going for ages and there isn't –"

Mai stared at the phone. It was completely dead. But that didn't make any sense: she'd charged it last night. Wait, the cameras always died whenever something happened. Technology and spirits don't mix…

Great. She was lost, alone and… okay, she wasn't alone. But that was the problem. Technically a ghost with psychopathic tendencies wasn't exactly company, but it was more than none.

"Trust Naru…" She murmured to herself, and then started to run. As did Naru, somewhere else in the hotel. He dialled her number.

"Hi, this is Taniyama Mai. Sorry I can't get to the phone right now, but please leave a message and I'll get back to you."

"Great." It hadn't even rang. But why would she turn her phone off? Unless… He reached another stairwell and sprinted up the stairs to the next level. Wait… He slowed down. What if she was on a floor below him? She had come back from the lobby, so it would make sense. Meanwhile he had been climbing higher, and wasting time. Shit.

He sprinted back down the stairs several levels until he was on the ground floor. He ran through the corridors, searching. He tried room 107. She wasn't there or anywhere in the corridor. He tried calling her phone again, although he knew that the chances of her picking up were low. It went straight to answer phone.

He searched the entire floor, but she wasn't there. He went up another level.

* * *

Mai was still walking. She'd given up on running. It didn't work and she had started to get tired. She had an uneasy feeling in her gut. She knew she wasn't alone.

How long had she been here? She wasn't sure. The corridor simply stretched on and on. She glanced at a door. The brass numbers clearly read 442. Shouldn't she come across a stairwell soon? Naru had said that there would be a stairwell, and she trusted him. Probably too much, but Naru couldn't be wrong. He never was.

The light over her head smashed without warning, showering her with little fragments of glass. Her arms automatically went over her head, and she tried to get out of the way of the glass. But when she walked onwards, the next light over her head smashed as well, more glass raining down on her, giving her multiple scratches on her arms. She tried walking forwards, gaining more scratches until she decided that it would be better to retrace her steps so she was under a light bulb that had already smashed.

She was trapped in a little pocket of blown-up bulbs with a ghost. Suddenly, any lights that were still on turned off, leaving her in complete darkness. Ah, crap.

A series of knocks ran down the corridor. Mai felt a sick twist in her gut as she realised that the knocks were coming from _inside_ the wall. She jumped away from the wall, landing clumsily on the floor in the middle of the corridor. The knocks continued, growing louder and more frantic, till the entire corridor was a din of noise, she couldn't even hear her thoughts, let alone her breathing, which was heavy.

The knocks stopped a few moments before something crashed into her, almost knocking the wind out of her. There was a pause for a few seconds.

"Mai?" A voice asked.

She gasped with relief. "Naru? Is that you?"

"Are you okay?"

Maybe it was just because it was dark and she couldn't see him, but did he sound worried?

"I'm fine, er, where are you?" She had her hands stuck out in front of her and was groping the air. Her hands found something soft, it was his jacket. His hand reached up and wrapped around hers, gently pulling her hand off his jacket. Mai was suddenly happy that it was dark: it covered her flaming cheeks.

"Let's get out of here." Naru muttered. He cautiously moved down the corridor. Shards of glass crunched under their feet.

Mai shivered. Her legs were getting cold… actually all of her was getting cold.

"Naru…" She whispered. "I'm freezing."

Silently he took of his jacket and handed it to her. She slipped into it, and searched in the dark for his hand again.

"I'm assuming all this glass came from the lights."

"How did you know?"

"There's nothing else in this corridor."

"True."

They shuffled along the corridor. Mai's stomach flipped as she suddenly felt something cold wrap around her ankle and tug. She screamed and leapt forward, straight into Naru. The something started snaking round her calf, all the time pulling gently. She wrapped her arms around Naru and held on for dear life.

"What is it?" He immediately turned slightly so that he was in between whatever was there and Mai. He shivered as he felt something freezing go through his leg.

"It's going up my leg!" She cried, holding him even tighter. Instinctively he wrapped his arms around her.

"What is?"

"I don't know, but it's cold…"She whimpered.

"I thought Bou-san and Ayako taught you how to protect yourself."

"Oh yeah!" She paused. "But I can't let go! It'll drag me away…"

"I'll hold you."

She twisted and raised her hands, facing what she thought was the right direction, and started chanting, but it had no effect.

* * *

"Did you hear that?" Yasuhara looked suspiciously at the ceiling.

Everyone was sitting in base, completely bored. Mai and Naru had been missing for a while now, and they had nothing to do.

"Hear what?" John asked.

"It must have been nothing."

* * *

"Mai, calm down." Naru sighed.

"It's not you whose leg is going numb because there's something wrapped around it!"

"Well, it's not going to work if you're hysterical."

"I am not hysterical."

"You have to relax." He continued as though she hadn't said anything.

"I'm not hysterical."

"Nothing's going to happen to you."

"I'm not hysterical!"

Naru raised one eyebrow. Even though it was pitch black Mai felt the eyebrow raising vibes.

"You clearly are."

"Humph."

There was a silence, and Mai became intensely aware of their proximity. _How am I meant to relax like this? _She grumbled in her head, but she wasn't complaining. Slowly she started chanting again, raising her hands.

The cold thing retreated from her ankle. She sighed in relief. Suddenly any fear had evaporated to be replaced with an over powering desire to get as far away from this corridor as possible. She surged forward, and Naru reluctantly let go.

They moved down the corridor, still holding hands. Light laced through the darkness; the corridor became less and less dark. Finally they were standing in the light, their fingers still intertwined.

Mai wanted to stop running. She felt tired, and they weren't in the corridor anymore, so they could stop, right? She slowed down, and Naru tugged at her hand.

"Come on."

"But… Naru, I want to stop…"

He stopped and looked back at her. "Mai, we have to get back to base."

"…Where are we?"

"We're on the second floor."

"Oh."

A cold wind whistled through the corridor, and she instinctively nudged closer to him.

The rest of the lights flickered on, giving them a view of the corridor. Mai could see the little bubble of darkness where the lights had smashed.

Naru suddenly felt a bout of curiosity and started walking back the way they came.

"Um, Naru?"

She followed him until they were standing outside door 407. Naru peered in the gloom at the number.

"Mai."

"Yes?"

"Read that."

"Um… 205." She looked at him. "It said 407! I swear, it did!"

He sighed.

"I believe you. But why?"

"Why what?"

"Why change the number?"

"I don't know. Weird sense of humour?"

"Somehow I don't think so."

"Maybe he didn't want you to find me."

"Perhaps."

They both thought in silence. Suddenly, they remembered they were still holding hands. Something twisted in Mai's chest, and she quickly moved her hand, blushing wildly. Naru kept his face poker straight.

"Anyway, the others will be wondering where we are."

"I'm sure they can imagine many places." Naru said bitterly.

Mai started off down the corridor, slightly quicker than normal. Naru paused for a moment amongst the shards of glass, then followed her. They walked down the corridor in silence, and back to base.

"You took forever. I thought you were just going to walk Imari-san to the front door." Yasuhara said, watching them suspiciously.

"And it's not exactly five miles away." Monk joined in.

"Why? What's the time?" Mai asked, confused.

"About two."

"What?"

"You heard me." Yasuhara sniffed.

"But that means…" Mai glanced at Naru, but he was talking quietly to Lin.

"Sooo… what did you guys do?" Ayako asked, practically winking.

"Nothing." Mai said immediately, but blushed when she remembered how warm his hand felt. The others laughed.

"You said that far too quickly for me to believe you. Come on, you can tell us." Ayako pleaded.

"We're family, right?" Monk reminded her.

"I could… if anything had actually happened. You know I'd tell you guys." She said, looking upset.

"Alright, alright. Just checking. We wouldn't want Naru-chan to do anything to our precious Mai." Ayako said, sounding concerned.

"I don't think Mai would mind much if Naru-chan did anything to her precious self." Yasuhara laughed as Mai turned even pinker.

"Humph." She turned her nose in the air, offended. From the other side of the room, Naru gritted his teeth.

"Mai, are you alright? You've cut your arm…" John said, staring at her arms.

"Oh…" Sure enough tiny cuts criss-crossed up her arms from where the lights had imploded above her. "Yeah, the lights broke. I'm fine." She said, but she could feel them start to feel sore.

"The lights broke? Mai, what happened?" Monk asked, immediately worried about his sister-like colleague. Mai explained, and there was a thoughtful silence after her words.

"We need to tell Itsukate-san about all that glass…" John said slowly.

"Yeah. I'll go, it's my bad luck that broke the glass." She stood up and moved towards the door.

"Mai, where are you going?"

"To find Itsukate-san…" she said innocently.

"Not on your own, you're not."

Mai scanned her friends, but none of them seemed to be volunteering. Lin almost smiled as he watched. Almost.

"Bou-san?" Mai asked.

"Actually Yasuhara and John and I are quite busy right now… er…" Monk said awkwardly.

"Yeah, doing…" Yasuhara started.

"Actually I needed their help, rewiring the monitors so they are less tangled." Lin said coolly. Mai, Naru, Yasuhara, Monk and John spun round to stare at Lin.

"We were just about to get started actually." Lin continued.

"Ayako?" Mai asked weakly.

"I was about to go and wash my hair actually."

"But it's the middle of the day!"

"Best time." She beckoned Mai over. "Actually I was thinking of doing something nice with it." She said, glancing at Monk. Mai followed her eyes and stared first at Monk, then Ayako, then back to Monk.

"You're… you're…" She said baffled.

"I'll be done in about half an hour." Ayako said and left. Mai stared after her.

"Maybe I should just wait half an hour." She grumbled. "Where's Masako?" She had thought that she could at least rely on Masako not to gang up on her. She glared at the group of assembled people, and everyone looked defiant, except for Monk who was giving her a suspicious stare.

"Well, I can't go on my own." She whined.

"You don't have to. Naru's not doing anything."Yasuhara pointed out, as Mai fumed. She stormed out of base.

"Go on Noll." Lin said. He had never gotten used to calling him Naru. Naru bristled, but got up and followed her. The others turned to each other.

"Wow, Lin-san, that was amazing lying." Yasuhara whistled.

"Did you guys notice she's wearing his jacket?" Monk asked, bemused.

* * *

"Mai, slow down." He called, but she ignored him. He jogged to catch up. Mai marched onwards silently.

"Why are you angry?" He asked, but she didn't say anything. Naru fell silent too, and lengthened his stride to match hers. He was completely at a loss what to do, what with being completely unused to handling an emotional female.

"Mai?" He asked. Something was wrong. This was definitely not normal Mai behaviour.

"What?" She snapped. Then she immediately deflated and slowed down.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She sat down. Naru sat next to her. Unsure what to do he patted her shoulder like Martin had patted him when he was young and trying to control his PK.

"Anyway, we need to find Itsukate-san." She jumped up, her old enthusiasm returned. Naru smiled.

"You haven't changed at all." He said smiling slightly, remembering the time when they had fallen into the sewer and she had flickered between emotions like they were pages in a book.

"Neither have you." She returned. They watched each other for a long pregnant silence. Suddenly she felt bold, and she couldn't help her hand reaching out and lacing her fingers through his. He didn't move at all, he couldn't move. He felt like his heart had stopped.

As quickly as her emboldened state came it left. She snatched her hand back and ran down the corridors. Naru swore he saw tears gathering in her eyes.

"No, no." He muttered before heading after her.

* * *

**So, woah, long chapter. Kinda makes up for the last one, which was a bit short.**

**Earlier today I came across a sketchpad I used briefly as a diary on a school trip some years ago.**

**I couldn't even spell 'wheel'. And it's riddled with 'i's. I was pretty rubbish when I was smaller. At least now I can spell (pssh, I just typed 'speel') most words, and I understand some grammar (like their, there, were, where etc.).**


	7. Chapter 7

Closed Doors, Part 7

Mai ran and ran, with no notion of where she was going. She couldn't see anything because of her tears, so she just went wherever her feet lead her. Soon she was in front of a door.

She stopped sobbing to see where she was. The corridor was strangely familiar, as though she had visited this place recently. She sniffed, and guessed there was nothing for it. She opened the door and darted inside. It took a while for her eyes to adjust to the dark, but then she recognised the small room with its clean counters and far too many cupboards that could fit into the space. The one window was over the sink. Silently Mai pulled the curtains across, and curled up on the cold tiled floor.

"Fool." She told herself before completely breaking down and sobbing her heart out to the dark room with its comforting smell of disinfectant.

* * *

Naru tried to follow her footsteps but she had twisted out of his sight so many times he could be on the completely wrong track by now. He couldn't see her anywhere, but it felt much better running. If he stopped he would have to think. But he was getting tired.

"Idiot!" He leaned with both hands placed at shoulder height. He could still almost feel her small hand in his.

He would never find her now; she could be anywhere in the hotel. She could get lost, she could get attacked, she could get hurt…

Okay, concentrate on where she would be. She would most likely go somewhere she knew. Not base, the others were there. Probably not her room either, too obvious. Then again this was Mai… He jogged through corridors and down stairs to her room.

"Mai?" He called through the door.

"Naru?" Ayako opened the door. "Is everything alright?" Okay, she clearly wasn't there then.

"Yes." He turned and walked away, fighting the urge to run. He must keep calm. Where else did she go? Hotel lobby? She wouldn't have been able to get into the boys rooms. Unless…

* * *

Mai slept fitfully. Waves of emotion and fatigue had washed over her until she succumbed to sleep. Now she was waking up with a bitter taste in her mouth and frozen limbs. She curled up tighter, but this hurt her sore arms. Wait… where was she?

She sat up, but it made her feel sick and she slumped back down.

"You're awake." Someone said in the darkness. She'd know the voice anywhere. Sure enough Naru was sitting against a cupboard, watching her carefully.

Something ached inside her. She didn't think she could face him after being rejected twice. Humiliation and hurt rose within her and she edged away. Why did he come and find her? All she wanted was to be alone and he had to destroy that wish too.

"Leave me alone." She muttered, hiding her face despite the fact that he probably could barely see her features anyway. He didn't say anything.

"Why did you follow me?" She said angrily.

"In your emotional state you're bound to get hurt."

"I was fine by myself! I somehow managed to get to the kitchen without getting hurt!" She shouted, all her rage and embarrassment fuelling her. "I'm not so stupid I'd, I don't know, run into a wall or something."

"I didn't say that."

"But you meant it! Oh this is Mai, my thick assistant who can't do anything but make me cups of tea because anything else I do I'm _bound to get hurt_!"

"That's not true."

"And it's a bloody miracle she can even make it to the kitchen!"

"Mai-"

"Because she's an idiot, especially compared to the genius that I am!" She screamed.

"I don't think that."

"Really? 'Cos you act like you do!"

"I do not. I view you just like all the rest of my colleagues."

"I don't see you ordering them to get you tea every five minutes! I don't see you keeping them in base all the time and not letting them do anything!"

"Don't be ridiculous Mai, I don't drink that much tea."

"That's not the point!" She said weakly, all the anger used up, to be replaced by a dull fatigue.

"Is that really what you think of me?" He asked bitterly.

She paused, slightly taken aback by his tone. "I don't know." She said quietly.

"How can you not know?" Naru asked, genuinely confused.

"Sometimes you're such a jerk, and sometimes you're actually nice." She said before she could stop herself. She took a step away, ashamed that she had told him anything about how she felt about him. When had she stood up?

"Am I? I must try harder." He said. Mai smiled in spite of herself.

"To be nicer?"

"I was thinking of the other."

"Jerk." She said lightly, smiling irresistibly. She moved to hit him gently, but he caught her hand, pulling her forwards slightly. She was so close he could feel the heat radiating off her skin. Instinct took over and he stopped thinking for the first time.

Her lips met his halfway. He pulled her closer and closer as her hands ran through his hair hesitantly and joined in a knot around his neck, and he couldn't help but smile.

* * *

The tap spluttered before reducing the flow to just a pathetic dribble. The thing was so ancient it squeaked from rust as it turned.

Ayako spun round and advanced on the bath. That was definitely not supposed to happen. The cold tap slowly turned as well. She watched it, her eyes wide. That was not supposed to happen. She reached out and grabbed it, and it stopped. A half hearted trickle ran down into the bath.

She definitely had not pulled the plug out either.

Sighing she murmured a chant. Then she reached down for the taps again. They refused to budge.

"Damn." They must have gotten stuck. Oh well, nothing for it then. She turned to leave the room, but she door slammed shut on her. She heard the key turn in the lock from the outside, before being removed.

"Masako?" She banged on the door. If this was a joke it was not funny. "You there?"

The only response she got was a throaty laugh. It didn't sound like anyone she knew.

"Houshou? This isn't funny."

Nothing.

"Yasu? John?"

The taps suddenly burst open, water gushing into the bath. She ran towards it. Sure enough the plug was in again. Her hands tugged at the taps, trying to close them, but the hot water sprayed up and hit her in the face.

"Ow!"

Composing herself she raised her hands. Unfortunately her sticks were in her suitcase. The chant seemed to have no effect at all, and the water level within the bath was rising rapidly. Soon it would over flow.

Angry now she attacked the taps again. They were stuck fast though, and it would take someone stronger than her to make them budge.

Water tentatively touched her toes. She quickly moved them away, it was freezing cold. She moved to the door again, hitting it as hard as she could and shouting. She strained for the sounds of footsteps, but no one came and the water was continuously pouring over the lip of the bath.

In five minutes she had gone hoarse and the water was swirling round her ankles. She wished it was a bigger bathroom. The water swirled over the tiles into the corners, worming its way through the cracks in the gout. It seeped through the floor, dampness gathering on the ceiling of the room below.

* * *

"Naru?"

"Yes?"

They still hadn't moved from the kitchen.

"If… Why did you reject me?"

"Reject you? I never rejected you." He answered, confused slightly.

"But you did. Before you left for England-"

"You mean when I asked who you were in love with?"

"Yes."

He sighed. "Mai, if I really didn't care I wouldn't have even bothered asking. Why did you cry?"

"Because… because I never looked at it like that. And earlier, when I tried to hold your hand…"

"Oh. Is that why you ran off crying?"

She nodded. They both stood there, enjoying the silence and each other's company.

"We should probably go and find Itsukate-san." Naru sighed.

"Do we have to?"

"Yes."

* * *

A single droplet of water gathered, before slowly gravity dragged it down. Eventually it detached from the ceiling and fell. Straight onto John's head.

"What was that?" He reached up and felt his scalp. "Water?"

They all simultaneously looked up at the ceiling.

"What's the room above this one?" Yasuhara asked quietly.

"I think it's ours…" Masako said, a worried look crossing her face.

"But isn't-?" John started, as Monk jumped up.

"Ayako!" They ran from the room. Soon they skidded to a halt in front of the bedroom's door. Monk banged on it.

"Ayako?" He called, but there was no reply.

"Does anyone have a key?" John asked breathlessly.

"I left it in the room." Masako said.

"Move out of the way Takigawa-san." Lin took off his jacket. He rammed the door with his shoulder, and after a couple of hits and groans the door burst open. There was a frantic knocking on the bathroom door.

"Bou-san? Masako? Yasuhara?" Ayako asked hoarsely.

"It's alright Ayako, we're here." Yasuhara called through the door.

"It's locked from the outside!" She called.

"Where's the key normally?" Monk asked Masako.

"In the door…"

"Hurry up! The water's still rising!"

Yasuhara mentally wondered how much water the floor could support before it gave in.

"Lin-san?" He asked. Lin nodded.

"Stand back Ayako!" Monk called.

"Why? What's going on?"Ayako asked as she slipped her way across the bathroom floor. There was a loud bang as Lin's shoulder hit the door. Ayako jumped at the sudden noise, and slipped. She fell with a crash (and inevitably a splash). There was another bang, and another, but then the door gave way.

Water crept slowly onto the wooden floor. Lin immediately went to the taps while Monk, Masako, John and Yasuhara rushed towards Ayako.

"Are you alright?" Masako asked anxiously.

"I think I've twisted my ankle…" She said. "And I'm freezing."

Monk picked her up and carried her into the bedroom before dropping her not very ceremoniously onto a bed.

"Thanks Bou-san, now my bed's going to be completely soaked." Ayako muttered, before sitting up and examining her joint. "Could someone get me bandages, and ask if this place has anything vaguely like crutches?"

"I'll go." John and Masako volunteered.

"Thanks Lin-san." Ayako said, only getting a nod in reply. He left, and Yasuhara was feeling a bit awkward and out of place.

"I'll just go help John." He muttered before quickly leaving.

"They've all gone!" Ayako exclaimed.

"We do do the same thing to Mai and Naru, so you can hardly complain." Monk said, almost laughing at the outraged expression on her face.

"Speaking of Mai and Naru, where _are_ they?"

* * *

Itsukate Dai looked in horror at the corridor of the hotel. Mai stood apologetically next to him, and Naru next to her.

"Does this normally happen?" He asked.

"No. Normally worse things happen than lots of bulbs smashing." Naru said.

"Wow."

"What he means is: normally someone gets hurt. Not: normally the building gets torn to shreds."

"Well, at least no one's been hurt." Dai turned around, only to find himself face to face with Yasuhara and John (Masako not having quite caught up yet).

"We were wondering if you had any crutches?" Yasuhara asked.

"I guess I spoke too soon."

* * *

**So, Mai and Naru finally get together. Our original plan was to get them together in chapter 6, but then we just didn't quite get round to it. **

**Thanks for all the reviews and support ^^**


	8. Chapter 8

Closed Doors, Part 8

The closest thing Dai had to crutches were some vaguely crutch shaped pieces of wood that looked like they were from WW2. Ayako was rather unimpressed and spent any free time complaining about the lack of services.

Bou-san eyed Naru and Mai. "What took you so long?" He asked.

Mai paused. She guessed 'we were kissing in the kitchen' was not the perfect excuse, even if it was true. Besides, she'd never hear the end of it.

"We couldn't find Itsukate-san." Naru swiftly lied.

Bou-san nodded.

"Um, what happened to Ayako?" Mai asked meekly.

"Long story. But basically she slipped and twisted her ankle."

"Slipped on what?" Mai asked. As Monk explained Mai felt a slight pang of guilt that she wasn't there.

"Good thing our room is above base." Mai said quietly.

"Yeah, otherwise…"

"Let's not go into otherwise." Mai murmured. She yawned.

"You tired?"

"Yeah. It's been a long day…"

"Aww. Actually I'm tired too." Monk patted her head.

* * *

_Mai stood up in the darkness. Before she could get her bearings something ran into her, and enveloped her in a hug. _

"_Mai! I can't believe you two actually…"_

"_Hi Gene."_

"_I thought you never would!"_

"_Nice to see you too…"_

"_You are _so_ cute!" Gene said over excitedly. _

"_Shut up Gene." Mai gave him evils. _

"_Mai, you don't have to pretend you're not insanely happy." Gene wagged his finger at her._

"_I don't need to pretend anyway." She said annoyed. Admittedly she was insanely happy, but she wasn't going to agree with him. Her pride was too great for that._

"_Wow, Noll's pride rubbed off on you." Gene laughed. Mai glared at him. Sometimes she hated that she couldn't hide anything from him._

"_Calm down Mai. It's not like I'm asking if he's any good or not."_

"_!" Mai stared at him. _

"_How long till I can call you my sister?"_

"_Gene!" She rounded on him._

"_I was joking. It would be nice though…"_

"_Very funny. Can we fast forward to the dream?"_

"_I'd much rather tease you about my idiot of a brother. But he has improved in intelligence recently."_

"_Gene."_

"_Okay, okay. Tell Noll he's forgiven."_

"_Forgiven? For what?"_

"_For breaking your little heart, of course."_

"_Gene, in my last dream…"_

"_Oh, that. I'm sorry. He invaded your dream." He walked over and whispered something in her ear, causing Mai to blush madly (and slap his arm), but the dream was being painted around them, so she focused her attention on that._

_She was in a tiny plain room. The wooden floor was grey with dust, and what little furniture there was was broken and in some state of collapse. Mai carefully took in the bed and the single chair next to it, with a chipped, stained cup on it._

_It was so murky it took her a while to notice the heap of clothes in the corner._

"_What is that?" She asked Gene. _

"_A person." He said quietly. He was frowning, but Mai turned back to the scene before her and didn't notice. She peered at the heap, imagining the vague contours of its body._

"_Since you ask, it's me." She whipped round to face Gene, or at least, where Gene had been. Instead she found herself face to face with the man from the previous dream. His face was completely straight and calm, eyes untroubled. He looked mid-thirties. _

_Her heart stopped. _

"_Where's Gene?" She managed._

"_I don't know. Wherever he normally is." He shrugged, indicating he didn't care._

"_What do you want?"_

"_Aren't you going to watch? I thought that's what you do." He turned back to the scene. Mai did too, while subtly trying to put more distance in between her and this man. Every instinct told her he was bad._

_She glanced around, but he was no longer there. The heap had disappeared as well. She was all alone in the dim room. Nothing for it then but to wait. She sat down._

_Eventually the door opened. A man came in and grabbed her arm, pulling her up. She dug her heels in. She shouldn't go with him. _

"_You can struggle all you like, but it won't save you now." The man looked at her with eyes full of hatred. He spat on the floor, before dragging her out of the door. She was lead through a building, and outside. Crowds jeered at her, all spitting on the ground as she passed. _

_She was taken to a large open space in the village. There was a podium. A rope dangled from a beam. Her eyes widened, as they led her closer. Up the steps. She stood on the trapdoor, her eyes searching the crowd. _

_He was there, his eyes boring into hers. She couldn't look away._

_If he's there… then what am I doing here? A panicked thought ran through her mind. He smiled and nodded._

"_That's right Mai-san." He called from the crowd._

_That's ridiculous – she couldn't actually die in her dream. Or could she?_

_Fear constricted her throat. The noose slipped over her head, its rough twine scratching her skin. The man laughed, his eyes till fixed on hers. Suddenly she was weightless for a nanosecond, before gravity took its effect._

* * *

Mai sat straight up. Her heart was still beating at a million miles an hour. Her arms burned where she had been dragged through the crowd.

She leapt out of bed and grabbed a jumper, before padding barefoot towards base.

The door opened slowly. Naru looked up immediately, but relaxed when Mai poked her head through the gap. Seeing he was alone she quickly slipped through the door and ran towards him, explaining her dream extremely quickly.

"Mai?" He asked, cutting through the gibberish she was spouting. He got up and sat her down on the sofa before sitting next to her. She curled up into his side and he kissed the top of her head.

"Now explain."

And she did. He listened in silence.

"How does he know I'm dreaming about him? That's never happened before."

"I don't know."

"Could I actually die?"

"Once Gene had a dream where the ghost knew he was there. Someone punched him in the dream and he had a black eye for a week."

"So I could. Potentially."

"Presumably. Next dream you have tell Gene to wake you up."

"He probably already knows."

"True."

"He told me to tell you you're forgiven."

"Good. About time too."

They were silent for a moment.

"We're all alone." Mai said.

"Hmm." Naru smiled, turned her face towards his and kissed her. When they parted (because, y'know, people do have to breathe sometimes, and Mai had a tendency to forget) she buried her face into his shoulder. She felt protected, safe in his arms, like nothing could ever hurt her.

"I love you." She said into his shirt. He smirked, kissed the top of her head, breathing in her hair.

"I love you too."

She happily drifted off to sleep.

* * *

It was still early when Lin walked into base. His eyebrow rose at the unexpected sight.

Mai had curled up on Naru and fallen asleep. He, in turn, had fallen asleep on her. He gently shook Naru awake.

"Mmm… Lin? What time is it?" He yawned, easing himself from under Mai.

"About six thirty. You should probably wake her up. Unless she's going to sleep in base?"

"No… Matsuzaki-san would probably throw a fit." He shook her till she woke up. "Mai. Mai. Mai. Wake up."

She made various noises until she started speaking Japanese.

"What is it?" She asked, groggy from being woken up and still sleepy.

"You should probably go back to your bed now."

She mumbled a few things that he couldn't understand. Then, "…Do I have to?"

"Yes. Or you'll have to answer to a lot of annoying questions from Bou-san and Matsuzaki-san. And probably from Yasuhara as well."

She yawned and rubbed her eyes, dislodging sleepy dust. She stood up, stretching for a few moments.

"Do you want me to walk you?" He asked, somewhat suddenly. After a second's consideration, she nodded.

She woke up slowly on the walk to her room. They stopped outside her door. She hugged him, standing on tip-toe to kiss him.

"Thank you." She said after a few moments.

"For what?"

"For last night." She smiled at him, then went into her room, leaving him in the corridor. He walked back to base.

"Was last night interesting?"

"Lin, shut up."

* * *

When the next person walked into base it was some hours later, at about 9. Yasuhara lay down on the sofa, looking at Naru and Lin upside-down.

"Why do _I_ have to be the third person to wake up?" He complained loudly. Lin stopped himself from correcting him.

Over the course of a few hours base became fuller with more people – people coming, then going (for various reasons), then coming back. It was nearing 11am when all SPR members were in base.

Bou-san noticed an interweaving set of bruises snaking up Mai's arms.

"Mai… your arms." He said.

She looked at her arms in mild surprise. She hadn't expected them to appear so soon.

"Woah, what did you do?" Yasuhara asked, blinking from behind his glasses. Mai caught Naru's eye. After a moment's hesitation, in which she drew in a rather deep breath, she told everyone about her dream, only leaving out Gene. When she finished there was a pause.

"How is that possible?" John asked eventually.

"I don't know." She admitted. Her arms were really starting to hurt.

Ayako examined one of her arms. "They'll probably fade within a few days." She concluded. Mai nodded unhappily. Ayako picked up her crutches and started hobbling around base, mumbling complaints again under her breath.

"This hotel has everything hidden away somewhere, except for the one thing that I need." She grumbled.

"I think they're cute." Mai said, amazed that real people she'd never know had used the crutches.

"You're not the one using them."

"And you know, now you've got something better to hit Bou-san with," Yasuhara said cheerfully.

"Don't give her ideas!" Monk turned on Yasuhara.

"Sorry."

"What are we doing today Naru?" John asked, trying to steer the conversation away from Ayako and her attacks on Monk.

"We'll try to draw out the spirit so we can exorcise it."

"Er, how?"

"I'm not sure yet." Naru had thought about this, and the only time the spirit seemed to come to anyone was when they were alone. It also seemed to pick on females. Ayako was injured, and Mai… well he didn't want to put Mai in danger. That left Masako.

But however much he didn't like her he didn't want to put her in danger either.

But did they have a choice? Naturally, they would have to make sure that nothing actually happened to her. But if they stayed too close, nothing might happen.

"Hara-san," He started after a few more moments' consideration. "Would you walk around this level and see if you can sense any ghosts?"

She gave a silent nod and walked out. Naru pretended to read, but he watched Masako's progress via the monitors.

Masako walked into an empty room. Her eyes widened slightly.

Back in base, the monitor stopped broadcasting.

* * *

**Eh, sorry we haven't updated for like a week and a half. We would have updated earlier, but the fan in our laptop started dying, so we had to get it fixed D:**


	9. Chapter 9

Closed Doors

Part 9

The first door Masako came to was slightly ajar. Cautiously she stepped into the room. Her eyes widened in shock and her voice died in her throat. The door quietly clicked shut behind her.

* * *

Back in base Naru stood up slowly. Immediately a door appeared on the screen. There was no sound. Naru sat back down. Damn. The ghost was onto him.

"Are you alright Naru-chan?" Monk gave him a strange look. Naru ignored him. He picked up the file again.

Suddenly the door banged open.

"You have to come… someone… they're hurt…" Masako managed between breaths. She jogged back out, everyone leaping up and following her. She hesitated before entering the room, but stopped.

"Wait… that's not possible." Her eyes widened in shock. The others looked around the room.

"Masako, there's nothing here." Ayako said.

"But, he was. He was just here." She tapped the floor with her foot. Shaking her head she backed away. "Honest, he was just there!"

"Who was?"

"There was this teenage boy. And he… he…"

"What?"

"There was a pool of blood around him, and cuts up his arms. And he was staring right at me."

"Well, he couldn't have gone anywhere then. Are you sure you saw him?"

"Yes! Of course I'm sure." Masako snapped.

"She saw it okay? Masako wouldn't lie to us." Mai said, frowning at Ayako.

"I was just asking." She muttered. The subdued group went back to base. Mai started in the other direction.

"Mai, where are you going?" Naru asked quietly.

"To get Masako some tea."

"Not on your own you're not."

"Come with me then." Mai challenged, before striding down the corridor. Silently Naru fell into step next to her. They got to the kitchen without saying anything. Mai poured water into the kettle, and then turned to face him.

"You won't let me go on my own, yet you let Masako go by herself."

Naru paused. "I didn't think."

"No, Naru. You always think. You over think. You knew perfectly well something could happen to her, but you still sent her on her own."

Naru didn't say anything.

"I can understand you don't like her, but nobody does that."

"I-" Naru started, but Mai interrupted.

"How could you use her like that?"

"Use her?"

"I'm not stupid! You needed a way to get the ghost, so Masako goes out and the ghost attacks her and bam! You've got the ghost were you want him. I can't believe you did that. You thought she might get hurt, and you still did it."

"I wasn't going to let her get hurt."

"How do you know? What if you couldn't get to her in time? I thought you were better than that."

"Masako would have been fine and the ghost wouldn't be able to ever hurt anyone again."

"But what if she wasn't? What if she died? Don't you care about your employees?"

"Of course I care-"

"You don't act like it!"

Naru was silent.

"I hate you." Mai said quietly. She turned and left, leaving Naru standing on his own in the middle of the kitchen.

Mai sprinted down the corridor, angry, upset, confused. She calmed herself down before entering base.

"They, they ran out of tea." Mai lied.

"What, Naru singlehandedly managed to drink all the tea?" Yasuhara asked. Mai opened her mouth to reply, but collapsed.

* * *

Naru sighed. What had he done? Mai hated him. Gene also probably hated him too then. He always seemed to take Mai's side. Damn. Gene was right; he was an idiot.

"You alright?" A concerned voice asked. Naru spun round only to find himself face to face with a middle aged man he had never seen before.

"I'm fine." He said coldly, before making his way to the door.

"Don't go yet." Naru twisted the doorknob, but to no effect. He turned on the man, who was holding out a tiny key.

"Locks are funny things, aren't they?" He mused.

"What do you want?" Naru snapped.

"Fine, have it your way. Because I'm nice, I'll give you a choice. How about that? You like deciding things, don't you?"

"What choice?"

"Say… someone had to die…"

Naru paled, he could guess what was coming next.

"And I gave you the choice over who died."

Naru said nothing.

"I'll make this simple for you. You? Or your cute little girlfriend Mai?"


	10. Chapter 10

Closed Doors

Part 10

_The darkness was oppressive this time, it made her feel claustrophobic, rather than comforted. Mai moved slightly, groping her way through the black. _

"_Mai?" Gene sounded really worried. Something bad was going to happen, she could tell. "You have to be quick. Noll's still in the kitchen."_

"_What? What's happening?"_

"_The ghost is speaking to him. He's about to do something really stupid."_

"_What?"_

"_Mai, I don't want to scare you but if you don't get there soon he'll die."_

"_Wake me up!" Mai cried. _

"_I can't. You have to wake yourself up! Calm down, and concentrate." Mai closed her eyes, and Gene watched her slowly fade away, leaving him alone in the darkness. _

* * *

"Mai! Mai, wake up!" Someone was shaking her roughly. She quickly opened her eyes. Bou-san breathed a sigh of relief.

"We have to be quick!" She shouted, struggling to jump up.

"What?"

"It's Naru! Gene said he's in danger!"

Lin quickly cut through. "Mai, where is he?"

"The kitchen." She had managed to stand up. They all started rushing to the kitchen. Lin tried the door. It refused bluntly to open.

"It's locked." He knocked on the door. "Noll, are you in there?" No reply. "We're going to have to break the door." They all stood back.

The door took some battering but it soon gave in with a loud breaking sound. Mai could hear Lin swear, but as she was near the back of the group she couldn't see. She moved forward.

"Mai, maybe you shouldn't…" Bou-san started.

"Go and call the ambulance," Ayako ordered.

"But-" Mai protested.

"Do it." Mai ducked under Bou-san's arm. Lin was kneeling by the crumpled form of Naru, turning him over gently.

"He's alive." He said, relieved.

"Mai…" Monk slowly turned her away. Mai nodded and ran to the phone.

Ayako turned to Monk.

"I'll need your top."

"But-"

"You've got a jacket!" Ayako took the top and wrapped it around one of Naru's wrists while Lin held them up to slow the blood flow. Ayako held her hand out and Yasuhara handed her his shirt.

"Thank God he's unconscious." She muttered.

* * *

Lin got into the back of the ambulance.

"I'll call." He said before the paramedics closed the door. The van rushed through the traffic, swept up to the hospital. Lin followed the trolley through the crowded corridors and into a small room. Then he was ushered out for a while. Finally they let him back in.

From the bed Naru's eyes followed him.

"Lin… I need… you to do something." Naru croaked. Lin leaned down and Naru whispered in his ear. Then Naru collapsed back and closed his eyes. The doctor came in.

"Are you his relative?"

"Yes." Lin lied smoothly.

"I'm afraid he may not make it. We need to treat him immediately." He led Lin out of the room.

* * *

Naru's phone sat in the middle of the table. Everyone stared intently at it, Mai and Masako still with tear tracks drying on their cheeks.

Suddenly it rang. Monk reached out, hesitating before he pressed the green button.

"Yes?" He asked. He nodded, and disconnected.

"Well?"

"Lin's coming back."

"And Naru?" Mai asked. Monk shook his head.

"They did everything they could." He said bitterly.

"You're joking." Yasuhara said, shocked.

"He lost too much blood."

"No, he couldn't…" Mai started, still in shock.

"I'm sorry…" He somehow felt the need to apologise. He dropped the phone back on the table.

To Mai, everything felt surreal. It had to be another dream, it couldn't be real. Tears once again started building up and falling.

"It's not true. I can't be." She stated.

"I'm so sorry Mai." Ayako hugged her.

"The last thing I said was that I hate him." Mai howled.

"What? Why?"

"We had an argument over Masako. And then I left him all alone. When he can't defend himself." She managed in between sobs.

"You couldn't have known."

"It's all my fault."

"Mai, it wasn't."

"I feel so guilty. How are his parents going to feel?"

Everyone was silent. The door opened and Lin walked in. He went straight over to Mai.

"I'm so sorry. There's nothing I could do." He patted her back awkwardly and retreated from the room.

"I'm going to my room." Mai left with Ayako quietly in tow. Silently Ayako hugged her.

"Ayako… do you think he's with Gene?" She asked between sobs.

"I think so."

* * *

_Mai curled up on the what-was-presumably-the-floor. Gene sat next to her._

"_Mai…" He started. Mai looked up. To see someone who looked exactly like Naru caused more tears to threaten to overflow._

"_Gene, I'm sorry… after you warned us, we still didn't get there in time."_

"_It's okay Mai. It's not your fault."_

_She hesitated. "Gene, can I see him?"_

"_I'm sorry." Gene looked away._

"_I want to see him! Why can't I?"_

_Gene was silent._

"_The last thing I said to him was that I hate him, it would have been the last thing he would have ever heard! I have to tell him I didn't mean it."_

"_Mai, he knows you didn't mean it."_

"_I still want to tell him."_

"_Don't worry. Everything will be fine." Gene looked away, biting his lip._

* * *

The next day dawned bright and sunny. Mai looked with distaste out of the window. A grey rainy day would be much more fitting. Mai closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She wanted to go back to bed and stay there, but she had work to do.

She strode into base. Monk, Yasuhara and Ayako looked up from their intense argument.

"What are you doing?" Mai asked, frowning.

"We thought it would be better to leave." Monk explained. Mai scoffed. There was no way she would let Naru's work go unfinished. Anyway, he wasn't dead, he couldn't be dead. He'd tell them off for slacking when he came back. She supressed the growing part of her brain that accepted his death. It wasn't possible. She wouldn't think about these things.

"No. We're not leaving." Ayako gave Monk an 'I told you' look.

"But Mai…"

"Have you asked Lin-san? And anyway, then Naru would have died for nothing. We're getting rid of the ghost whatever happens." Mai said fiercely. Monk looked uncomfortable.

"Whatever you say." He said reluctantly. Mai looked triumphant. Soon the base filled; no one could sleep for long.

"What are we doing then?" Yasuhara looked at Mai.

"I guess we just start where we left off."

"Which is where exactly?" John asked.

"I don't know. Okay, we need to get rid of the ghost, but we don't know how. Do we know who he is?" Mai asked Lin.

"No. But Naru did leave a file of people he thought it could be…" He indicated a thick stack of paper on the table. Mai looked at it in dismay.

"I'll have to go through all that?"

"I think the most likely are on the top."

Mai sighed sadly and started leafing through, looking at pictures or reading descriptions. Her thoughts kept drifting to Naru. Base seemed empty without him. Once she caught herself thinking that he hadn't called for tea yet.

"Er, Mai, do you want us to do anything?" Yasuhara asked.

"Erm, I guess we want to keep an eye on his activity. Masako, would you mind going round all the rooms again? Sorry, but I'm not sure what else to do."

"Yeah, sure." Masako got up.

"I'll go with you." Ayako volunteered.

"Thanks guys." A ghost of a smile flickered across Mai's face. She returned to the papers. About an hour later she jumped up.

"I found him!" She exclaimed. The others peered over her shoulders.

"29 years old, with dark brown short hair, but blue eyes. That's strange." Monk read.

"And he murdered his lover and the man she was having an affair with." Yasuhara continued. "Nice guy."

"But they suspected him of also killing another man." Mai said.

"Why?"

"No reason, as far as they could tell. He was hanged. It's definitely him."

"So, now what?"

* * *

Masako and Ayako walked systematically from room to room. Well, Ayako swung on her crutches.

"It's odd, he doesn't seem to be anywhere." Masako said.

"I bet he'll be in the last room on the last floor." Ayako said. "Is…?" She started, but didn't finish.

"Is what?"

"Well, is Naru anywhere?" She asked timidly.

"No."

"Strange, you'd have thought he would be in the kitchen…" Ayako murmured.

"He definitely wasn't there." Masako said. They carried on. They covered the entire building, but the ghost wasn't there. They returned to base.

"He's nowhere." Ayako said, flopping onto the sofa.

"But-" Mai started confused. She looked at Lin.

"Maybe he's not site bound." Lin said.

"You did look everywhere?"

"Yep. My legs ache."

"You must have missed somewhere." Mai frowned.

"Ground floor all the way to the sixth. And the garden." Ayako grimaced. "Why did I volunteer?"

"Is there a basement?" Yasuhara asked. The group thought for a moment.

"The kitchen is downstairs from the ground floor…" Mai said. They looked at each other. She stood up and went to leave.

"You can't go on your own!" Monk and Ayako protested. Mai shrugged.

"They're right. You can't go on your own." Lin said. Monk and Ayako stood up.

"I guess I have to go too…" Masako muttered, and followed them. They went down to the kitchen, and stood in the middle – someone had cleaned the blood already. They were silent, all of them picturing Naru. Suddenly Monk broke it.

"We'd better get started then. What are we looking for?"

"I don't know." Mai said, examining the room. After fifteen minutes of fruitless searching Mai almost felt like crying. She didn't know what to do, but she knew what she wanted the end result to be. It felt good to be working though, it kept her mind occupied.

Masako stepped closer to the wall, running her hands over it. "Where are you?" she whispered. She walked around an oddly placed tall cupboard. "Ouch!" She stared at the splinter in her hand. Then at the smooth and painted cupboard. It wasn't even made of wood.

She stepped closer. Absentmindedly she tugged Monk's sleeve.

"What?"

"Could you move the cupboard?"

Monk sighed. "I guess this is a job for a man."

"Should I go and get Lin-san then?" Ayako asked sweetly. Monk glared at her and griped the cupboard, dragging it sideways.

"What do they have in that thing?" He asked, straining.

"Food, probably."

"Thanks Ayako. It was what is known as a _rhetorical question_. Not that you would know what that is."

Ayako eviled him, and aimed.

"Ow!"

"Guys! We'll never get the cupboard moved if you keep on arguing." Mai complained. She wanted to be doing something.

Eventually the cupboard was moved, revealing a door hidden behind it. Ayako hobbled forward and tried the handle. She pushed the door and it opened, allowing a puff of damp air to dart forward into the kitchen. Ayako coughed.

"I think we're going to need torches." Mai said, peering into the black beyond the door. Masako was already rummaging in the drawers. She threw one torch to Monk and kept the other. Monk flicked it on, and a thin shaft of light illuminated the room.

"I guess we have to go in." Monk stepped forward, Ayako moving with him. Cautiously Mai and Masako followed.

"It stinks in here." Ayako complained. They room was completely bare. Cobweb threads hung from the ceiling, their spiders having died or moved on long ago due to the lack of insects. A couple of millipedes threaded their way along the floor, fleeing from the light. Monk moved forward again.

There was a sickening crack. Monk and Ayako stared at the floor, before suddenly they disappeared. Ayako's scream reverberating off the walls. They landed heavily, Ayako falling on top of Monk, who groaned then coughed.

"Bou-san? Ayako?" Mai's voice called from above.

"We're fine." Ayako called. She grabbed the torch and shone it around them.

"Um, he's here…" Masako called out. Immediately Ayako and Monk started chanting at the space in general. They cried out as the wind sickles hit them.

"He's gone." Masako said.

"We're going to go get help!" Mai called. There was a patter of feet and silence. They left the door wide open, and light filtered down, illuminating the falling dust. Ayako shone the torch at Monk.

"You're bleeding."

"Where?"

Ayako pointed to her cheek. Monk wiped his cheek.

"No, your left." Monk wiped his other cheek.

"No, there." Ayako reached out and traced the cut.

"Thanks."

Ayako shrieked as something furry scurried over her leg. She shone the torch around her and inched closer to Monk. The light was fading slowly as the torch lost power, the beam of light shortening. Suddenly it turned off completely.

* * *

**I know, we're so evil. Hehehe. This kept reminding us of Aftermath when we wrote (people who have read Aftermath should understand). **

**We went to Wagamama recently. If you don't know, it's a noodle and rice bar place.**

**HOW THE %*$£ DO PEOPLE EAT RAMEN WITH CHOPSTICKS?**

**Seriously, we can't use chopsticks, but I did okay with my bowl of ramen. But Ocy... It took her 45 minutes to eat half of her bowl. And it wasn't a very big bowl. And she tried using a ladle, fork and spoon as well. Next time we go, we're having curry.**

**And how do Japanese people manage to eat things with chopsticks so elegantly? ;_; **

**Please review!  
**


	11. Chapter 11

Closed Doors

Part 11 XD

Mai and Masako sprinted towards base. They burst through the door, Lin, Yasuhara and John looking up at the commotion.

"Ayako and Bou-san… well, we found a room, and the floor, it… fell in, and we need help to get them out." Mai panted out in-between breaths. Yasuhara and John jumped up immediately.

"Lin, aren't you coming?"

"I'll be a minute. Go on without me."

They nodded and ran back to the kitchen.

"Ayako? Bou-san?" Mai called nervously. Why wasn't their torch on?

"Guys? Is that you?" Ayako called.

"Are you okay?"

"Eh, I think…" Monk called back.

"Get us out of here! There are rats or something!" Ayako wailed.

John peered over the edge of the floor into the blackness. "We might need a rope. I think there's one in base." And he ran off in direction of base.

"Is there anything down there?" Yasuhara called.

"We don't know! Our torch isn't working, we can't see anything!"

* * *

John ran towards base, slowing down to a walk when he was near the door.

There was the sound of voices. As he got closer he realised that it was Lin, talking in English.

He paused outside the door. It was obvious that he was on the phone, presumably to Martin and Luella. Maybe he shouldn't but in.

"Yes, I told them." Pause as the person on the other end said something. "Of course she took it badly. What did you expect?"

John leaned closer to the door. It seemed unlikely that it was Martin and Luella. He knew it was bad to eavesdrop, but he couldn't help it.

* * *

Masako tossed her torch down to Ayako. There was a pause, then a single beam of light illuminated Ayako and Monk.

"Is there anything down there?"

"Not as far as I can see."

"What's it like down there?"

They had decided to wait till John came back with a rope.

"Err… dusty."

"I meant is the room big or small?"

"Smallish. Not very nice. I wouldn't like to be here any day of the week."

Something squeaked in the darkness.

"And there's mice. Or rats."

John failed to appear with a rope.

"When's John coming back?" Mai complained loudly. She didn't want to be waiting. Working kept her mind off Naru.

Everyone was silent. Mai couldn't help remembering the slits on Naru's arms, tracing his veins, his blood bright red against the pale of his arm. Suddenly she remembered that when they had found him, his sleeves had been rolled up, but when they had been arguing, his sleeves had been down.

"…_he's about to do something really stupid."_

Had he known he was going to die? Accepted his death?

She felt nauseous and clutched at her stomach.

"Mai, are you okay?"

"I think I'm going to be sick…"

She stumbled over to the sink and vomited. Someone brushed a few stray strands of hair behind her ear. When she had emptied the contents of her stomach she sank down to the ground. Yasuhara handed her a glass of water, which she gratefully accepted and drank. Less than a day ago she had been happier than she'd been for years, and now her world was crumbling and sinking. All because of one stupid ghost. One stupid ghost had cold-bloodily slit Naru's wrists and left him to bleed to death. And she was the idiot who had let the ghost do that. She felt so pathetic.

"Masako?" Ayako asked. She couldn't see what was going on. Masako turned her head. "What's going on?"

"Mai's been sick. And she looks like she's going to cry now."

Ayako felt pity for the young girl. She was coping with a third death of someone close to her. Before Naru and excluding people in the hospital, the only person Ayako had knew who had died had been one elderly grandmother who she couldn't remember much of.

Finally John appeared with a rope, his eyes apologetic. Mai got the feeling that he really wanted to tell her something, but couldn't.

She took the rope and walked to the edge of the floor.

"Ayako? Bou-san?"

"Yes?"

"I'm going to lower a rope, okay? See if you can grab it and haul yourselves up."

"Wait, can you throw us another torch?" Monk asked. After a few minutes they hurled a torch down.

"Ow! Watch where you throw things!" Ayako's angry voice filtered up, followed by Monk's snickering. She picked the torch up and flicked it on.

"Where are you going?" She asked Monk.

"Just having a look."

Cautiously he stepped forwards, the light from his torch searching the room. Nervously Ayako hopped after him, not wanting to be left alone. Silently he picked up a crutch which had ended up on the other side of the room and handed it to her.

"There's a door." Monk said, wiping away the cobwebs. Various bugs fled into the woodwork. Cautiously he opened it, only to be faced with the foundations.

"Well, that's disappointing." He muttered, while Ayako breathed a sigh of relief.

"Can we get out of here already? I feel dusty." Ayako complained, making her way towards the rope.

"Gosh, you're heavy." Mai complained. She had needed Yasuhara and John to help her stop the rope slipping out of her hands.

"Shut up."

Then Bou-san hoisted himself up, looking dustier than Ayako.

"Wow, I'm liking the look Bou-san." Yasuhara laughed. Monk gave him a glare.

"Shut up. None of you have fallen through the floor."

"Was there anything down there?" Mai asked.

Monk shook his head. "Just loads of cobwebs and dust."

They sighed and turned to leave.

"If this is where the ghost regularly returns, perhaps we should lay a trap for him?" Lin said from the doorway, making them jump.

"Jeez, Lin-san, you didn't have to sneak up on us like that." Monk said. Lin gave them all a bug-eyed look.

"It's a good idea though…" Yasuhara said.

* * *

At 6 in the morning a seriously disgruntled Ayako wandered into base and flopped onto the couch. Lin looked up in surprise, having never seen Ayako before about 9:30.

"From now on, I'm sleeping in here!" She announced before slumping sideways, fast asleep. Lin stared at her for a while, wondering what the hell was going on. Then he calmly returned to his work.

A fair few hours later Yasuhara, Monk and John entered.

"Lin-san…" Yasuhara started, inspecting the lump that was Ayako.

"What on earth is she doing here?" Monk asked, prodding her in a tactful attempt to get her to wake up.

"I don't know. She came in and said she would start sleeping here, then fell asleep." Lin shrugged.

John gently shook Ayako.

"Wha?" She managed, staring up at them. She sat up quickly, then seemed to remember what she was doing.

"Why are you going to sleep in here?" Monk asked, genuinely confused.

"Mai keeps me up." Ayako yawned. "I got about two hours of sleep." She got up and left, leaving the somewhat confused males to work it out for themselves. She returned to her room. Masako looked up when she entered.

"Where did you go?" She asked suspiciously.

"To get some sleep. It's alright for you." She eyed Masako with jealousy, who looked awkward.

"I can't help being a deep sleeper." She muttered. Ayako went over to Mai and shook her gently.

"Come on Mai, you've got to get up."

"I don't want to." She mumbled unhappily. Ayako stopped. This was not good.

"Mai, we've got lots of work to do." She said. Mai shook her head. If she could have cried she would have, but she had nothing left inside her. She felt hollow, not real. She couldn't do anything: she was just a shell.

"I can't."

"Everyone is waiting for you." Ayako and Masako exchanged glances. Mai scrunched her face up. Everyone was relying on her. She was the one who wanted to keep going. She had prevented them from leaving. But she had no will power anymore. She no longer cared about this case, just wanted to be shot of it.

"You wouldn't want to let the ghost get away with it." Masako tried. They coaxed, they ordered, they pleaded. But Mai refused to move.

"At least have some breakfast."

"I'm not hungry."

They sighed, but left. They returned to base, where they were given questioning looks.

"Mai… isn't coming down today." Ayako said, defeated. "She's breaking down."

"Do you think it would help-?" Monk started, but Ayako shook her head. Unnoticed Lin got up and left.

The door to the girl's room opened. Mai didn't even bother to turn around. Someone sat on the ground next to the bed.

"Mai-san." Mai blinked. What was Lin doing here?

"When Gene died it felt like a bit of everyone had died with him. I don't think I've ever seen any group of people so morose, or even felt so bad myself. But, though he's dead, in a way he's still alive. He visits you in your dreams, he talks to Noll through mirrors, and we all thought about him all the time. It kept him alive, even if it wasn't really him. That tiny bit of hope that it was all a mistake, someone else had died instead…" Lin paused for a long time. "It's the same with Noll. For a bit of you he's still alive. You can still hear his voice; imagine he's sitting in base reading yet another book. Because of you, and Bou-san, and Brown-san, Hara-san, Matsuzaki-san and Yasuhara-san he's still alive. More so then you think."

Mai stared at him with wide eyes.

"Look after that little bit of hope." Lin finished. He sat for some time in silence.

"Thank you." Mai said. Lin nodded and quietly left. Silently, like she was in a dream Mai got up.

Lin returned to base, feeling slightly guilty.

"What did you do?" Yasuhara immediately asked.

"Hypnotised her." Lin said.

"You what?"

"I didn't realise that stuff worked." John said.

"Not always. She won't feel anything for a while, but after a certain amount of time the emotions will return. Unfortunately they may return more strongly, but hopefully she'll have accepted by that time."

"How long will it work for?" Ayako asked.

"I don't know. It could be anything from a couple of hours, if not done very well, to a few days. Try not to say anything which will remind her." He returned to the monitors. The group looked at him with awe.

Suddenly he gasped.

"Are you alright?" John asked, concerned.

"My shiki." He said, before running out of the room. The others followed him, passing a taken aback Mai in the corridor.

"What's going on?" She asked, jogging to keep up.

They went down to the kitchen, and Lin opened the door to the room. Masako gasped.

"He's so angry…" She murmured. Immediately Ayako, Monk and John started chanting.

"What's going on?" Yasuhara asked, completely confused.

"He didn't get caught. But he realised about the trap, and now he's angry." Masako explained. "He's gone now."

"And he destroyed one of my shiki." Lin said, monotonously.

"Is that even possible?"

"Not normally. He must have been a medium when he was alive, and kept his powers. It also explains how he knew Mai was dreaming about him." Lin explained.

"Where is he now?" Monk asked Masako. She closed her eyes and focused.

"On the first floor. In the north corridor." She said hurriedly. They ran out, up to the ground floor. That was when they saw Itsukate Mamiko running down the steps. She saw them, and the terror in her eyes was replaced somewhat by relief.

"Thank goodness it's you. You need to help me! Dai's been possessed and he's got a gun!"

* * *

**Has anyone else stopped getting emails from FanFiction?  
I have deduced it's not somehting wrong with hotmail... ( - Isn't Cass lucky she has such an intelligent, wonderful, funny, gorgeous etc person for a sister. I don't think she would cope without me ^^)**

**So, yep, new chappie up and running. Well, up anyway. Nearing the end now, so we'd like to thank everyone who reveiwed... my family who made this possible *sobs* my friends who supported me... only joking XD  
**

**I can't believe that none of you guys want to know what Naru's last words were :0 **

**Please review!  
**


	12. Chapter 12

Closed Doors, Part 12

They looked at Itsukate Mamiko in horror.

"Please help!" She cried, pleading with her eyes. "I don't want anything bad to happen." She looked at Lin, who nodded.

"We'll have to be careful about this one." Ayako said nervously.

"How will we draw him out?" John asked.

"First I think we have to prevent him from getting to anyone else." Yasuhara pointed out.

"Where is he?" Lin asked.

"In our rooms, on the first floor. Er, here's the key." She thrust a tiny key into Lin's hands. The group set off. Lin surreptitiously got out his phone.

"Yasuhara, Mai, make sure you're with someone who can defend themselves! Masako, would you stay with them?" Monk asked.

"Sure." She nodded and the group set off.

"Ayako, what are you doing here?" Monk asked, concerned.

"Coming with you. You may need me."

"It's too dangerous. You could get hurt. And you're still injured."

"I'm touched. But that's the point: someone could get hurt. I grew up practically in a hospital, my parents are doctors. I know something about medicine."

"Ayako…" Monk protested.

"I know what I'm doing." She said stubbornly. Monk sighed. They reached the rooms. The door hung open.

"That's not good." John said, starting to pray under his breath.

Silently Lin and Monk entered the rooms. They searched in every room, tense. John entered after them, shortly followed by Ayako.

"He's not here." Monk said, frustrated.

"Do you think she lied to us?" John asked.

"No." Ayako said.

"What will we do once we've found him? We're not armed." Monk asked Lin.

"I don't know."

There was a loud blast and instinctively they crouched. They looked at each other nervously.

"Shit. Where was that from?"

"The lobby…"

* * *

Masako, Mai and Yasuhara waited in the hall. They were tense, not speaking to each other.

"Did you hear that?" Yasuhara asked. They looked up, only to see Itsukate Dai looking at them calmly from the top of the stairs. They stared at each other for a long moment, neither party moving.

"Run!" Shouted Yasuhara. The spell was broken and they sprinted towards the dining room. Dai watched them go with a small smile. Slowly he descended the stairs, aiming at the light. He squeezed the trigger. The gun was loud, and the glass bowl that was the light exploded into a million shards.

They ran through into another room. Mai tripped over a chair.

"Ow…" She clutched her head where it had hit a table.

"Mai?" Masako turned.

"Go on, I'm right behind you." She called, staggering to her feet. They nodded and carried on through the next set of doors. Mai reached them as they swung shut. Quickly she grasped them, opening them and darting through.

Which way? Mai contemplated the stairs and the corridor. Damn. And her awful sense of direction wasn't helping here. She took the stairs.

There was another bang and a bullet embedded itself in a wall, followed by the patter of running feet. An ominous silence fell, and he started walking forwards, humming slightly. Fear encircled the hotel. Mai ran up and up stairs, desperate to get as far away as was humanly possible. She banged on doors, but no one was in, or no one opened them.

Great. She stopped in the middle of the corridor. Silence fell. Back on the ground floor the man looked at the ceiling. He wondered briefly who was running. Slowly, he locked the front door. He had already locked the others, there was no way out. And he was probably about to break his promise. Not that that mattered anyway.

The first step creaked. That was good. He liked that. However the second one didn't. Slightly annoyed he jumped on the first step, pleased with the general disturbance that made. You could tell by the absolute silence. He smiled slightly. Well, this was a special occasion. Now he could get away with it. This time he wouldn't be caught.

* * *

Monk, Lin, John and Ayako ran towards the lobby. No one was there.

"I'm not sure whether to be relieved or more worried." Ayako said, biting her lip.

"Well, he can't have gone this way…" Monk said. They went down stairs cautiously, and stood in the empty lobby wondering where they could have gone.

"Dining room?" John asked. They hesitantly opened the doors, but there was nobody there. The first step creaked quietly behind them. Ayako spun round, touching Monk's arm. They peered round the door. Their eyes widened and their mouths fell open.

"Oh my God."

Suddenly a shot rang out.

* * *

Masako and Yasuhara skidded round the corner.

"Where are we?" Masako asked. Suddenly she looked around.

"Where's Mai?" They both asked simultaneously. The sudden bang made them jump.

"Mai!" Masako cried. They doubled back the way they came.

* * *

Mai stopped for breath. She was tired and all her muscles screamed. Not to mention she had nowhere else to run to. She didn't have a clue where she was, or where the Dai was. All she could do was to listen.

She cringed with the third shot. But there wasn't much she could do, and it sounded like he was down stairs. She got up and went to the stairs. There was a yell. Monk. Mai ran down the stairs, her heart pounding.

But she could hear someone else running, but they were running towards her. She looked down over the edge of the banister, only to be confronted by Dai's face looking up at her. He grinned, and aimed. Mai's heart stopped. The bullet flew past her face and stuck in the ceiling. She turned around yet again and darted down the nearest corridor.

She slowed, listening for the inevitable footsteps behind her. Sure enough, there they were. She turned round the corner. Shit, dead end. She pounded on the door, but nobody opened. And Dai was just round the corner.

"How fitting." Dai looked down at her. She backed up against the door, willing it to disappear.

"You know, I promised I wouldn't hurt you. And I wouldn't have. But you're forcing me to."

"What?"

"You're so determined to get rid of me I guess I have to get rid of you. Permanently." Mai sank down. This was it: she was actually going to die. But there wasn't any life flashing before her eyes, or a light at the end of the tunnel. She closed her eyes, waiting.

The eerie silence was broken by the gun shot.


	13. Chapter 13

Closed Doors

Part13

Everyone looked at the ceiling. About a millisecond passed before they connected the shot and the fact that Mai was all alone. They put two and two together.

Lin swore, immediately jumping up. He took the stairs two at a time. He didn't know where Mai was, but he checked every corridor he passed.

A shot disrupted the silence. It came from the floor above. Lin sprinted upwards and down a corridor. He stepped forward and smartly hit Dai in the neck, who then crumpled neatly to the floor.

* * *

Mai closed her eyes, waiting. The moment seemed to last for an eternity. The gun went off.

There was a silence after that. Mai opened her eyes. What?

Dai had collapsed on the floor in front of her. Lin-san was rubbing his hand. But that wasn't what shocked her most.

Naru was standing next to him. They nodded to each other.

"Okay, Mai-" Naru started. But Mai couldn't take it in. She felt sick and dizzy. She had died…

Everything went black. When she came to she was still in the corridor. Naru was staring down at her looking concerned.

"I'm dead, aren't I?" Mai asked weakly.

"No. Unless dead people talk, breathe, faint…"

"But-"

"Mai, you're not dead."

"But he shot me." She protested. How else could she see him? Naru pointed at the ceiling. Currently the ceiling was the least important thing on her mind, but she looked anyway.

"The ceiling's still there. Now-"

"Not even you are that dim. Look at the left corner." He sighed. Mai squinted. A bullet had embedded itself there, cracks the width of a hair spread from the epicentre. The bullet that should have hit her.

"But, you're dead." Mai said, completely confused. He sighed, and sat down next to her.

"No, I'm not."

"Lin-san said-"

"I told him to say that I had died." He looked at his feet, like he was ashamed.

"Why would you say that if you didn't die?" Mai asked, still confused but a bit more angry.

"When the ghost came to me in the kitchen he offered me a choice. I had to decide who would die, me or you. I chose me. I think what Hara-san saw was a precursor to my death: he slit my wrists." He rolled up his sleeve, revealing a long, thin scar with stitches running up it.

"But why didn't you tell me?" Rage built up inside her. Mai thought back to realising that he had died. That horrible empty feeling inside. Did he have _no_ feelings? Was losing both her parents not enough? She had to cry for him as well?

"It was too risky. If the ghost found out I was alive, there was a good chance he would try to kill you."

"So? I could've always stayed with someone who could protect me!"

"I didn't want to run the risk."

"I can't believe- do you know what it felt like? I blamed myself! And what if the ghost hadn't gone on a rampage? What then? When would you have turned up? If you ever would've turned up? How long was I supposed to think you were dead for?"

"Until the case was over."

"How could you be so… so selfish? It's alright for you, and for Lin-san." She would have turned on him, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Didn't you think about how we would feel?"

"I did what was best."

"Grr. You're so infuriating. Don't ever, _ever_ do that again!" Mai slumped back against the door. She started to cry. Naru wrapped his arms around her, but she tried to hit him away feebly, to no avail. She started sobbing into his shoulder.

"I really thought I'd lost you."

Naru didn't say anything.

"You idiot; I'm not worth your life."

* * *

Lin had left the corridor. He needed someone to help him take Dai somewhere, and currently Naru was a bit preoccupied. He warily stepped around Monk and Ayako and into the dining room.

"Brown-san, Yasuhara-san I need your help."

"How's Mai?"

"She's fine. She's with Noll."

"What?" Yasuhara asked.

"She's dead?" Masako asked.

"No, he's alive. Now could I have some help?"

"Wait, you guys aren't surprised at all. You knew about this?" Masako turned on Ayako, Monk and John.

"Er, I overheard…" John said awkwardly.

"And you didn't tell us?"

Lin almost buried his face in his hands. "Please! Help!" He reminded them rather forcefully. Reluctantly they left, while Masako turned on Ayako.

"Masako, could you go to the front door? To get an ambulance?" Ayako asked, before turning her attention back to Monk. "Don't worry they'll be here soon."

Monk nodded. Ayako winced as his grip on her hand tightened.

"Er, Ayako?" Masako reappeared.

"What?"

"The front door's locked."

"Crap. Who has the key?"

"We don't know. Maybe Itsukate-san?"

"Can't we just… I don't know, break them?"

Masako gave her a look that practically screamed 'no'. Monk cried out in pain. Ayako turned her attention back to him.

"It's okay; you're going to be fine. Um, can't you run and get a cloth and water?"

Masako nodded, and then ran off as fast as her kimono would allow.

Several minutes later she came back, carefully balancing a small tub of water. Ayako carefully rolled up Monk's trouser leg, which was stiff with blood. Masako blanched and looked away.

* * *

Lin, John and Yasuhara carefully carried Dai to his room. They paused for a moment. Then,

"How do we open the door?"

Lin dropped Dai's legs and took a key out of his pocket. The door swung open and he picked up Dai's legs again. They dropped him on the bed.

"Now what do we do?"

"I think he's still possessed – we need to get the spirit out of him and then quickly exorcise it before it can do any more damage or possess anyone else."

"And how do we do that?"

"I'm not sure."

"Great."

"Well, I guess we just have to sit with him to make sure he doesn't do anything." John said, looking at the unconscious man.

Naru walked in, and surveyed Dai.

"Where's Mai?" Yasuhara asked.

"She went downstairs." Indeed Mai had gone downstairs, to the lobby. She ran up to Monk.

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry," She cried, hugging him. Monk coughed.

"Mai, you're hurting him." Ayako chided.

"Sorry." She bit her lip.

"It's not your fault Jou-chan."

"Can I do something to help?" Mai asked. Ayako surveyed Monk's leg.

"Could you open the door?"

"What?"

"The front door. It's locked and the ambulance will be here soon." Ayako explained.

"If it's locked how do I open it?"

Ayako gave her a bug-eyed look. "I don't know! Just open it somehow!"

Mai ran to said door. She observed it for a moment, before trying the handle and tugging as hard as she could. It budged slightly, but didn't open. She ran to the deserted front desk and rummaged around, trying to find a key. Her fingers closed around something metal. She ran back to the door, slitting the key in the lock. It turned, and the door opened. She returned the key and went back to Ayako.

"It's open. Do you want me to do anything else?"

"No."

Mai nodded and went upstairs. Her legs ached and her head felt heavy. She felt tired, drained, worn out. Everything looked slightly blurry. She wanted to just lie down and fall asleep. She stumbled into her room and collapsed on the bed.

* * *

The ambulance crew took away Bou-san. SPR stood in the hotel lobby (except for Lin who was baby-sitting Dai (and Mai's still sleeping ^^)).

"Naru…"

"Yes?"

"Why did you get Lin-san to tell us that you were dead?"

He hesitated for a brief moment before speaking. "If the ghost found out that I survived the attack it put everyone else in danger."

They nodded.

"Then why did you come back?"

"Lin called me to say that Itsukate-san was possessed and had a gun. I wasn't exactly far away."

There was a pause in the group.

"How is Mai?"

There'd been a bit of a panic earlier when one of them had realised that no-one had seen Mai for several minutes, bit they'd soon found her curled up on her bed, fast asleep.

"Still asleep. She must be exhausted."

He nodded. A rare peaceful silence descended on the building.

"We still have one angry ghost on our hands though…" Yasuhara pointed out.

* * *

**Don't ask how Dai got a gun. We don't know.**

**Yes, Naru didn't die. I think most of you guys got that (if we're honest, we didn't try to force you to believe that he actually died (we were originally scared that if people thought that Naru actually died we would lose readers)), even if you didn't quite get why he did it. And of course Mai didn't die either.  
If you don't understand anything, simply say in a review and we'll explain it in the authours note of the next chapter.**

**Just one more chapter till this story is completed. When I first came up with the idea I never thought it'd be 14 chapters long. I was thinking more like 10 chapters max.**

**Morbid is our new story, so feel free to read that!**

**Please review! :)**


	14. Epilogue

Closed Doors, Part 14

Epilouge

Mai picked up yet another box from the van, and stumbled towards the office with it. Sighing she dumped it on her desk.

Yasuhara and John were nowhere to be seen, and Ayako would never lower herself by actually doing manual labour and Naru wasn't allowed, so Lin and her were unloading by themselves. For once though Mai didn't mind.

She surveyed the office that she now spent more time in then her apartment. Naru was alive, Monk was healing well, the sun was shining… life was good again. And they were almost done.

It seemed like after the rampage any bad luck had just disappeared. Lin had had no trouble luring the ghost out of Itsukate Dai's body. And after that they had exorcised it pretty much straight away, on the first go.

"I'll take the last boxes, Mai-san." Lin said. Recently Lin had been behaving… strangely towards her. He kept on helping her with little things, like finishing the notes. She couldn't work out why, but sometimes when he looked at her she thought he looked slightly sheepish.

Naru on the other hand…

"Mai, tea." He called from inside the office. Nothing much had changed. She ran back inside the office, efficiently fixing tea for both Naru and Ayako. She bounced into his office, earning a raised eyebrow, and deposited the cup on his desk.

"Feel free to leave…" Naru said without looking up from his book. Mai scowled.

"You're welcome." Mai hinted. Naru sighed. Some battles he was just not going to give into. He continued reading.

"I'm not going until you say thank you." She said petulantly. Well, that was a challenge Naru couldn't resist. He stood up and advanced on Mai, who timidly backed away. And only stopped when she hit the door. Naru's hands rested on other side of her and he leaned closer.

Mai's brain turned to mush. She blushed the kind of blush that would win blushing competitions, if there were any. Naru kissed her.

"You were saying?" He asked, when he finally broke away.

"Nnng." Mai managed, before blushing and fleeing. Naru smirked. He always won.

Ayako laughed when Mai exited the office, her face a magnificent shade of magenta which somehow just made her look cuter.

"I'm going to the hospital. You guys coming or what?" She asked, calmly sipping her tea. Mai paused.

"Yeah, we were going to go soon anyway: Naru's going to have his stitches taken out." A tiny part of her brain squeaked, she had said Naru would come without asking him. Oh well…

"Well, come on then!"

"Someone's in a hurry…" Mai muttered. "It's alright, Bou-san's not going anywhere."

"You little-!" Ayako glared at Mai, who looked innocent. About half an hour (and a lot of coaxing) later they climbed into Ayako's car. Mai smiled triumphantly. Naru didn't _always_ win.

* * *

**The end *sob***

**We couldn't really write how they exorcised the spirit, and it was nothing new anyway, so we just wrote a sort of little epilouge. Sorry if you were expecting something else or something a bit longer.**

**A massive thank you to anyone who has read this far, and added to favourites, or their watch list, and a really big thank you to everyone who reviewed. (That doesn't mean, of course, that you can't review on this chapter as well ;) )**

**So yeah, it'sfinished, but there is some good news...  
We do have a new story, called Morbid. Aptly named by moi. Feel free to check it out, wink wink, nudge nudge. Unfotunatly, I've got my drama exam in about 4 weeks, and we don't know what we're doing! argh, and my art the week after, so lot's lot's lot's to do! May not write as much :( but we'll try our best. **

**Thanks again ^^**


End file.
